“In other parts of the world, blending has always had level of respect…. Holding a Masters in Brewing and Distilling Sciences from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Coyle is on a mission to open people’s minds to the importance of the tradition that has been honored for centuries in Scotland, where distillers trade their unique products with one another to tweak flavor profiles. Though High West Master Distiller Brendan Coyle is a distilling wizard and an unabashed whiskey geek who can wax poetically about “refraction columns” and “reflux ratio” ad nauseam, perhaps his greatest skills lie in blending. Perkins heeded Rutledge’s words, and began purchasing and repurposing whiskey from other distilleries. “And I go, ‘What? Nobody does that!’ And is like, ‘There’s 300 brands, and eight distilleries: everybody does it, nobody knows it.'” “He said, ‘Dave, while you’re making your whiskey, and putting it in wood, and waiting six years, how are you gonna make payroll?'” Perkins recalls that Rutledge suggested he sell whiskey purchased from other plants. It wasn’t until Jim Rutledge, (now former) Master Distiller of Four Roses, broached the topic that Perkins understood the value of blending sourced whiskey to a fledgling distillery. In fact, when former pharmaceutical biochemist David Perkins founded the brand a dozen years ago, blending wasn’t even a consideration. This is not to imply that High West doesn’t make any of its own products: it does, and always has. And yet, the apparent irony of this gorgeous new state-of-the-art facility–complete with a built-to-order Scottish Forsythe Copper pot still–is that High West has best come to be known for blending whiskey, rather than distilling it.

Blending modern and rustic aesthetics, the stunning construction set on a 3,500-acre luxury cattle ranch called Blue Sky Utah is any whiskey distiller’s dream-come-true.

Thirty minutes outside of Park City, Utah, High West Distillery’s brand new 25,000-square-foot compound sits amidst vast stretches of open wilderness and magnificent mountain views.

High west whiskey