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The Little Distillery That Did:

High West Distillery helps PARK CITY REMEMBER its whiskey roots WRITTEN BY Xania

Woodman

“I’ll be at the distillery if you need me.”

I must say that at least three times each visit to Park City. Of course, it’s not the sole reason for my visits but what David Perkins’ High West Distillery & Saloon contributes to those visits cannot be easily quantified like so many inches of fresh powder during ski season; it can only be experienced and appreciated.

I

was blindly defaulting into a Woodford Reserve Kentucky Bourbon one night on Main Street when a savvy bartender picked up on my premium request and suggested I try something new. From the sexy lineup of whiskies, bourbons and ryes he selected the tallest, narrowest bottle. It had a promising, hand-crafted Western look about it, and a wooden stopper.

High West’s Rendezvous Rye — dry, spicy. A MAY-DECEMBER marriage of young and old rye whiskies and the first of High West’s commercial offerings, Rendezvous was so-named for the summer trade gatherings (or, rendezvous) made by the mountain men of

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Utah’s pioneering history from 1825 to 1840; whiskey usually figured prominently in their trade meet-ups one way or another.

I would find out later in my discussions with Perkins that the unusually robust taste is owed to Perkins’ unique take on whiskey and particularly on rye whiskey. While many think of rye as just another whiskey—and a rough, unrefined one at that—High West’s creations are true mergers of vision, chemical reaction and taste. Perkins is seen as a something of a renegade among whiskey aficionados for having blended Utah’s past with his own forward-thinking creativity and intention.

*** Much like Park City itself, Perkins’ whiskies and vodkas are distinct products of the independent Western spirit; Perkins is a pioneer—a slim, silver-haired and soft-spoken whiskey cowboy. Denver-born and Georgia-raised, the avid mountain biker left behind a lucrative biotech marketing career and six years ago moved to Park City with his wife Jane to pursue his new-found passion, whiskey.

A rogue in the whiskey world, Perkins—now Utah’s first licensed distiller since 1870—thumbs his nose at prevailing whiskey snobbery that would council him to compromise taste for appearances. For example, to be called “rye,” the whiskey’s mash bill (grain makeup) must contain at least 51 percent rye, the balance usually being made up of sweet corn or malted barley. Perkins’ 16 year old Rocky Mountain Rye contains 80 percent rye (a so-called “high-rye”); Perkins digs rye’s intensely spicy kick. So snobbery be damned, 80 percent it is. And the Rendezvous’ blend’s six-year old whiskey component is 95 percent rye!

“The opportunity to buy these old, rare, aged rye whiskies that no one’s ever had, and then to create blends of them that no one’s ever had, was kind of fun—to be able to put our own stamp on them.”

Perkins had found his thing. And every bottle includes an invitation for you to visit him at High West’s new home in Old Town Park City.

***

“I’d always wanted to do my own thing,” says Perkins, “I just didn’t know what It was.” While attending a wedding, Perkins says he visited one of Kentucky’s eight distilleries and became instantly hooked. “I thought, ‘This looks just like a chemistry lab. I can do that!’” To hone his craft, Perkins studied with the best, including Jim Rutledge, Master Distiller at Kentucky’s Four Roses Distillery, makers of Bulleit Bourbon and other great whiskies.

The two-building compound, around 10,000 square feet in total, is comprised of the Victorian-era Watts House and the old National Garage. Built in 1914 by master carpenter E.J. Beggs, the Watts home is one of only a few two-story Victorian-style pyramid houses in Park City. The October 3, 1914 issue of the Park Record reported: “E.J. Beggs, the well known mill and carpenter, has pulled down his old home on Lower Park Ave. and will erect on the site a modern 8 room, two story house. Mr. Beggs has one of the finest building lots in the city and a two-story house will set it off splendidly.”

It was during his whiskey education that Perkins says he discovered some spectacular rye whiskey in Four Roses’ Kentucky warehouses.

Left untouched, these ryes—regarded by the industry as rough, raw product—would ultimately have found themselves cut with neutral spirit (vodka) and blended to create Canadian whisky. But Perkins saw beauty in the rye whiskies’ characters. So he rescued them, brought them to a Salt Lake City warehouse, bottled them and released them according to his vision and taste as High West. That was two years ago last December.

The National Garage was originally a livery stable to service the workhorses that pulled the heavy ore carts to the mines. Beggs rebuilt a smaller livery stable in 1907 for his Beggs and Buckley Livery.

As automobiles become popular, the partners began servicing cars, changing the name to the Beggs and Buckley Garage. It was later that the business became Sinclair Park Motor and operated as such until 1942. In adopting 703 Park Ave (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) as the High West brand storefront, 80 percent of the buildings’ historic integrity had to be maintained.

utah distilled spirits history

The three-story house is now connected to the livery by a glass corridor that shows off the distillery’s 250 gallon Holstein copper pot still. Perkins shies away from discussing numbers but Utah’s local papers put the project cost at over $3 million.

With a background in biochemistry, a love of fine spirits and cooking, and a passion for the West, David Perkins decided to leave his job in the biotech industry and start a distillery to make a western whiskey. It didn’t hurt that Jane, David’s wife, had a great grandfather who started one of the country’s leading distilleries at the turn of the century in 1900. In 2007, David opened High West Distillery - the first legal distillery in Utah since the 1870’s.

1826

Mountain Many Rendezvous - The first recorded whiskey-fest out West happens in Cache County Utah.

1857

Mark Twain and explorer Capt. Richard Burton sample Valley Tan

1870

Last known legal still in Utah

1884

Park City incorporated - Miners create Utah’s best watering hole.

1933

Utah provides 36th vote to end Prohibition

2007

High West Distillery opens

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Rendezvous A blend of 6 and 16 year old straight rye whiskies.

Rocky Mountain Rye 16 year old Aging in used oak barrels doesn’t strip this 80% rye of its powerfully spicy kick.

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Executive chef/partner/GM James Dumas’ rustic, ingredient-driven “nouveau-western” mountain menu small- and large-plates (bison!) stands up well to whiskey pairing. A big skier, Dumas said he’d always wanted a ski-in kitchen; as culinary point man to “the world’s only ski-in gastro-distillery,” Dumas’ prayers have clearly been answered.

Meanwhile, downstairs, the cozy saloon bar and library get pretty lively when a mandolin-player and singer visit to evoke some of that mountain charm tourists seek and locals closely guard. In the private tasting room, structured whiskey dinners and flights give aficionados and neophytes alike a hands-on education in the whiskies of the world. “It’s not just about our whiskey,” says Perkins, who is happy to take his guests around the world in a glass: the American south, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and back to Utah. “If I can have one person walk out of here loving whiskey more than when they came in, then I don’t care where it came from.”

*** Posting up in the saloon bar with lead bartender Marilee Guinan, amid the rosy-cheeked après-skiers sampling her myriad original creations as well as beloved classics, I only have good things on my mind: the promise of tomorrow’s snow, a warm whiskey toddy, and Chef Dumas’ salty oat mash biscuits, a happy by-product of the whiskey-making process.

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used American white oak barrels for a soft, sophisticated finish.

Bourye Approachable and spicy/sweet blend of 10 year old Bourbon and 12 and 16 year old ryes.

Silver Western Oat Whiskey Light to medium bodied oat spirit; very minimally aged in oak for a unique, soft nuttiness great for mixing in cocktails.

Vodka 7000 Distilled at an elevation of 7,000 feet from sweet, locally grown oats for a creamy, full-bodied mouth feel and a subtle nutty flavor.

Vodka 7000 Peach Four, hand-picked Roy, peaches in every bottle.

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“Whiskey’s just so under-appreciated,” Perkins said the last time we spoke. “Most people know nothing about it. That’s the fun part.”

Mostly I agree with Perkins. But for me it’s the tasting. That’s the fun part. I usually start with a few of the ryes—served neat to honor the distiller. Next I go right for the High West Lemonade, a deceivingly simple-but-perfect expression of Rendezvous’ versatility. And then I let the bartenders take the wheel. woman

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