Drinks in Salt Lake City

You wouldn’t believe it, but the headquarter city of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has quite a few distilleries.

That’s not to say there aren’t some daunting challenges for the sinner here. Liquor stores are state run and the selection is so-so. There are no liquor sales on Sundays. Distilleries are not allowed to give tastings without charging for them.

And, of course, some distilleries had limited touring/tasting opportunities because of COVID panic. Some distilleries that we tried to visit are not featured here because we were turned away at the inn. Well, joke’s on them! They missed a chance to market themselves through my website to literally more than zero people.

That said, you can still get satisfyingly drunk here if you just believe in yourself.

One of our favorite small distillers in Salt Lake was Hammerspring. . Their selection included a flavorful vodka, a savory and peppery gin, some tasty habanero liqueur, and some young whiskey that tries hard.

The hammer-spring is the most dangerous gift you can give your handyman.

We also had a grand old time at Outlaw Distillery, purveyors of moonshine, whiskey and rum. The gregarious owner here was the only one to actually give us a tour of the distillery. We actually walked away with a bottle of their spiced rum, which was infused with herbs and spices and tasted like chai.

The most famous distillery near Salt Lake City, by far, is High West. Old and giant, it towers over the Utah alcohol production landscape. It’s quite a scenic drive through the mountains to get there, and they have shuttles every 15 minutes from their parking lot up to their mountain distillery.

  • The view from High West.
  • The courrom the restaurant/tasting room.
  • A walkway around this enormous distillery.
  • Walking to the restaurant, a ceiling made of barrel staves.
  • A free tasting.
  • Unique and deliciously chunky gravy on their biscuits.
  • Chicken and waffles with maple syrup.

The tasting was informative and they really tried to sell the idea that a distillery which sources its whiskey from Indiana and blends it is JUST AS GOOD as a distillery which distils their own. (Most High West whiskeys are /a mix of sourced whiskeys and whiskeys they distil themselves.) The whiskey was the best I had from Utah; the other distilleries are just too young. We had dinner at the restaurant as well, which hit the spot after a long day of driving and drinking. A few rarer High West pours were available for purchase there.

Salt Lake has breweries too! SaltFire Brewing has a very cuddly cat you can play with.

Creeping out with the cat.

Grid City Beer Works sells all of their taproom beers with three styles of bubbles – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and flat and warm (British pub ale style). They also have a palate-pleasing food menu.

One of these is the tap. One is the fish and chips. Which is which? Tonight at 9.

Mountain West Cider has an interesting and adequate selection, including a prickly pear cider.