High West Whiskey was started by two chemists with a love for whiskey, the West and an ancestral connection to Brigham Young. The fact that he started the first distillery in Utah is another story that’s worth asking about, but that needs a campfire and a bottle of Double Rye to retell.

Trace was invited to this rockstar Distillery in the mountains above Park City to design exhibits that told the High West story in a distinctly western manner. The exhibits were designed with a light touch to compliment the prairie style architecture, that being said, this exhibit holds the Trace record for the heaviest exhibit we ever built. Frames of Cor-Ten steel were set outside to rust through a Boston winter of sleet and snow to get the just-right look of the West. The irony is not lost on us.

Under a ceiling of charred whiskey barrel staves are large format historic photos paired with shelves below of whiskey ephemera. Text writing by Kurt Repanshek evokes campfires and yarns of yore and may be the most entertaining exhibit writing I have ever had the pleasure to read.

The companion exhibits are housed in the actual Distillery and illustrate the process of making the whiskey.

This is my favorite exhibit to date and the love and care with which it was designed and installed is a big part of its success. Kudos to all the folks at High West, to Mystic Scenic for the build, to Justin Lew for guiding the process and to Justin Jensen for the install. More than a pleasure.