Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/57654
David Perkins didn't know this history when he started High West Distillery, in Park City, Utah, fi ve years ago. Highly religious Utah was hard for Perkins, a Colorado native, to understand when he moved there. "I thought people would fi re bomb or protest when we fi rst opened. I was honestly very nervous about that," Perkins says. "But that has not happened. What we found is that most people were stoked about our distillery [and saloon], because they can get a drink here." In this unlikely place, Perkins has created one of the most exciting microdistilleries in the country. Now sold in 30 states, High West's spirits include Double Rye!, 12 Year Old Rye and Rendezvous Rye, as well as several other whiskies, including Son of Bourye, a bourbon-rye blend, successor to the original Bourye. Perkins says the distiller fraternity was very helpful when he fi rst started, especially Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge, who encouraged him to pursue rye instead of bourbon.In the beginning, High West purchased most of its whiskey from distillers in Indiana and Kentucky. Even though Perkins had an operational still, he needed to stock aged spirits for the public. So he decided to try blending aged whiskey from other states. "I put my own spin on them," he says. His fi rst rye, Rendezvous, was a blend of six-year-old Indiana rye with 16-year-old Kentucky rye from the Barton Distillery. He would continue the strategy of blending the two states' products with Double Rye!, a two-year-old straight Indiana rye blended with a 16-year-old Kentucky straight. Although the Kentucky component—at 53% rye and 37% corn—barely qualifi es as a straight whiskey, I consider Double Rye! one of America's top ryes. And now that he is experimenting with other whiskeys, Perkins's approach has caught a lot of attention. "Perkins is being very creative about the mashbills and yeast cultures he is utilizing for his distillates," Rutledge says. "I've sampled a couple of very unique and excellent-tasting distillates, and I look forward to sampling his matured creations." Like Rutledge, I can't wait to see what High West does in the coming years. Shall we set the time machine to the future? Tasting Notes In a word, this whiskey is beautiful. Its color is perfectly russet with hues of gold, but the beauty is in the nose. With notes of cinnamon, mint, clove, licorice, cara- mel and vanilla, as well as mocha and Christmas tree, I just can't stop nosing Double Rye! On the palate, many notes continue, but there are additional hints of fennel, vanilla extract, caramel, green apple and toasted pecans that excite the senses. The smooth, yet spicy, fi nish makes me want to nose it again. march 2012 / the tasting panel / 113 PHOTO COURTESY OF HIGH WEST DISTILLERY