How ‘the Whiskey of the Mountains’ High West Distillery Honors its Most Critical Ingredient: Nature
High West’s Refectory at Blue Sky. (Photo: High West/Instagram)
The sky is just bigger at High West Distillery in Park City, Utah. Stunning views surround the whiskey brand’s recently purchased Refectory at Blue Sky. It’s impossible to not appreciate nature in Utah, and High West Brand Manager Caitlin Johnston wants everyone who visits this Park City whiskey powerhouse to do just that.
“We’re the whiskey of the West,” she explained. “The whiskey of the mountains. We want you to come up here, sip whiskey and enjoy the beautiful western vistas.”
The sentiment behind High West champions a love for the environment, and the brand believes in putting its money where its mouth is. High West launched the Protect The West Initiative in August 2022 and pledged a $1 million commitment to preserving the dynamic western lands for three years.
There’s a bit of a disconnect between the pieces of this puzzle. The idea that a whiskey brand whose claim to fame is blending whiskeys from all over the U.S. — and even beyond — would care so much about a sense of place, nature and connection to the land it calls home feels antithetical. Yet, when you visit and see the vast scope of High West’s influence and what it does for the Park City Community, it all makes sense. It’s very clear that the most important ingredients to the Park City Brand’s whiskeys are nature and the place it calls home.
“We’re the matriarch of the town. Everybody’s either worked at High West, dated somebody at High West, been through the rounds,” Johnston said with a chuckle. “Or they were introduced to Park City through High West. That’s why this initiative is so important to us.”
High West’s connection to the place it calls home grows deeper each year — and not just through tourism and hospitality, but through its expanded portfolio of proprietary whiskeys as well.
How a Changing Climate Poses Unique Challenges to High West
From a tourism and hospitality perspective, High West generates a massive amount of revenue during ski season, yet part of what makes High West’s whiskeys so distinctive is the climate that surrounds the distillery as its spirits age in barrels. In short, the whiskey brand is dependent on nature in more ways than one.
“We see a decent proof increase during our maturation timeline,” Winter explained. “We go into the barrel at 110 [proof], a little bit lower than some folks. For used cooperage, it’s 95, so even lower. We’re trying to combat all the evaporation we’re going to see. We are super dry, and we have really hot summers, so paying attention to our maturation has been super critical for creating distillate that’s not super overoaked and super hot.”
Since summers have grown hotter and Park City has continued to see weeks of heat waves, monitoring proof is absolutely critical.
“I’m a Salt Lake City boy, born and raised. When I think back to my childhood, I don’t ever remember having weeks upon weeks of triple digits, and that’s become kind of the norm for the last few years,” he said.
The shifting changes in weather have thrown curveballs at High West when it comes to grain sourcing. Winter explained that High West sourced a variety of rye named Bono from a farm in Southeastern Idaho that dry farms, but in 2021, the heat led to a shortage, and High West could no longer obtain a sufficient amount of rye.
“We were scrambling to find some rye to fit our spice profile and our flavor profile to stretch us to get us to the next crop year. So, we used the combination of Bono, and … a second variety of rye where the distillate fit our flavor profile. That sort of came out of left field.”
This shift in climate affecting the brand so directly explains why High West’s Protect The West Initiative resonates so deeply with the team. It goes beyond surface-level branding — weather changes have posed new challenges, forcing High West to get creative and adapt.
Johnston is leading the charge with the Protect The West Initiative, and she explained why the program is so vital.
“You can’t make whiskey without the land,” Johnston explained. “You need the grains, the water — everything is reliant on that. But also, the land is a place we recreate in. We sit at the bottom of the ski hill here, and our employees ride up and have runs in the day, then come down and go to their bartending shift. So, that’s so much a part of our spirit here.”
The Future of Protecting The West
The Protect The West Initiative originated during the 2022 release of Campfire, High West’s unusual blend of bourbon, rye and scotch. Utah was experiencing wildfires right before the release, and Johnston explained launching Campfire around the same time felt a bit tone-deaf.
They put their heads together and came up with a campaign using the slogan, “Don’t light a campfire, drink one instead.” High West’s inaugural donation was $50,000 toward the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, an organization that helps firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty and their families. As fire season continues to grow, it is needed now more than ever.
“Summers are getting smokier,” Johnston said. “Especially being at 7,000 feet. You don’t need anything else to impact your breathing. Every year you become a little bit wearier, and everybody’s a little bit more on edge.”
She went on to explain the shorter winters have made things more “volatile” in the area. Some winters have been great, but others have been troublesome, with the sheer amount of snowpack difficulties around Park City.
“Our brand’s success is very much based on where we’re located and the people who believe in us, the people living here,” Johnston said. “But it’s also having those memories of visiting the mountains, of recreating out here and bringing them back to Atlanta or wherever you are and being like, ‘I just love my time out west and having this magical affiliation with the land and High West with it.'”
High West has big ambitions for its Protect The West Initiative. In August 2023, the brand tapped Olympic gold medalist, Shaun White, to combat climate change and amplify its message. Johnston said that a big goal for her is to help fans of the brand have a more active role in the initiative.
“So many of the questions we’ve gotten lately are along the lines of, ‘How do consumers get involved?'” Johnston said. “Which has been so cool. Love our fans for that. So, we’re excited to make it more accessible and have those things come into place next year.”
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