by Kathy Span
images by Kati Greaney Photography
Dis · till
/de-stil/ verb
1. purify (a liquid) by vaporizing it, then condensing it by cooling the vapor, and collecting the resulting liquid.
“they managed to distill a small quantity of water”
synonyms: purify, refine, filter, treat, process;
2. extract the essential meaning or most important aspects of.
When Ashley Cross told her husband she intended to leave her profession, it wasn’t an announcement she made without a replacement path in mind. She had a plan. She was a planner. She was a 20-plus year veteran educator. Oh yeah, she had a plan.
She would work at Home Depot where, she says, she could wear a bright orange apron, work in the paint section, and thus “surround herself with color.” When asked why she no longer wanted to work in public education after 23 years, she simply stated that she needed “a new world.”
By distilling down her dream of a colorful “New World” Ashley condensed, and then extracted, the crucial aspects of a life of artistry: authenticity, color, fun. Something aligned with nature. Something unique. Something that makes people smile (in moderation of course). Something creative. And, something with a less rigid schedule.
New World Distillery opened its doors on December 10, 2016. While Ashley’s “colorful Home Depot” plans didn’t quite materialize, she and co-owner/husband, Chris Cross, have done something much bigger. They built a craft distillery in the heart of Eden Utah, a small town perched at 5400 feet above sea level on the shores of Pineview Lake, and surrounded by some of the purist backcountry snow on the planet. The small-town, authentic, Western setting matches their product.
Ashley and Chris channel the elements of the location, art, as well as pure science, to draw the essence of their rarefied products drop-by-drop from nature. They apply the artistry of craft distilling to every aspect of the New World Distillery products that now frequent the shelves of Utah’s State liquor stores.
A foodie at heart, Ashley’s favorite part about running a distillery is sorting the botanicals to ensure a perfect, and perfectly replicateable, recipe. Chris, on the other hand, as an engineer, finds macho-geek-joy in constantly honing the complex equations that add up to perfection on the distilling side. Art is often challenged by technology. That said, Chris argues that without the technology, New World Distillery couldn’t raise the bar and then surpass it, enabling them to make spirits that are deserving of over-the-top shelf status.
New Word Distillery keeps its focus narrow, and pure. One theme: purity. Three products, Agave Spirits; Gin, and a reluctant but luscious Zen Vodka.
Talk about unique and pure: as the only distillery in Utah distilling agave spirits, Chris and Ashley source 100% Organic Agave of the Blue Weber (no relation to the County) variety. While there are many varieties of wild agave, Blue Weber is the only one that legally can be distilled into tequila, or Agave Spirits. Each bottle is adorned with a custom image of Myauhel, the Goddess of Agave, commissioned from local artist Tyler Davis, who works brush in brush with the Crosses on each unique bottle design.
Chris explains that the Goddess is green on the Blanco Agave Spirits because the Blanco is the most agave or fruit-forward of the three types of tequila. New World Distillery’s Blanco was released on Earth Day of 2016. The bottle art is a Gold Medal Winner from the San Diego International Spirits Festival. The Goddess is red on the Reposado, which translates as “rested,” appropriate for the middle-aged product. And gold on the Anejo, which translates as the wealthy and wise grandmother, “well aged.”
New World’s Agave Spirits are aged in bourbon barrels in accordance with Mexican tequila-aging traditions. The longer the spirit remains in a barrel, the more it takes on the amber color tones from the beautifully liquorified bourbon barrels, and the more it develops a succulent complexity unique to the barrel in which it was aged.
Quite often, customers will ask which is better: the blanco, the reposado, or the anejo. Ashley’s answer isn’t quite what folks expect: “There is no differentiation in terms of quality; all are pure, and all are excellent. It is all about taste – yours.” Some prefer the brightness of a perfect Blanco and some prefer the depth of an aged spirit. Both have a distinct space in one’s liquor cabinet.
New World Distillery’s launch product is equally known for its perfectly crafted botanical bill, as it is for the intricate artwork that adorns the Oomaw Gin bottle. A multi-award-winning Gin, both domestically and internationally, Oomaw Gin is defined by a mixture of 9 organic botanicals distilled over many many hours. The Crosses spent over a year experimenting with tasting and finally perfecting their recipe. The result is what Ashley calls “THE perfect craft gin.” If you go on a tour of the distillery you will learn all about the botanicals used in Oomaw Gin and how the Crosses, with art and science in equal measure, determine the ratios in relation to the flavor profile, to achieve the pure perfection they seek. “A fabulous gin is like a painting,” Ashley explains. “You start with a perfect neutral backdrop and add the brilliance of botanicals to color the palate.”
The dragonfly image on the Oomaw Gin bottle was inspired by the first summer the Crosses lived in Ogden Valley. It happened to be a summer when the presence of dragonflies was unimaginably prolific. The Crosses worked closely with artist, Tyler Davis, to convey their vision for each spirit bottle. They knew exactly what they wanted: intricately-patterned, fossilized wings, subtly woven with iconic, Utah images hidden within. Layered metallic and black paint, the dragonfly stretches across the clear bottle and is reflected against clouds that show through the bottle. The dragonfly is the image of transformation and steadfast determination. A dragonfly of a Gin indeed.
Vodka. “What a Zen juxtaposition of concepts in the spirits world!” Ashley bemoans. “Vodka is the essence of nothing. The ultimate challenge is to create a perfect no thing.” Legally defined as a “neutral spirit,” vodka is contrary to the other products about which the Crosses feel such great passion: “How do you have a passion about something that is nothing?” Everything we love is taste-intense: tequila, gin, food, life.”
Vodka, as a neutral spirit, challenged the Crosses. And yet it is the purist of the pure from a distillation standpoint. So, bring on the purity and Zen. According to the Crosses, at first visit, there does not seem to be much to say about vodka. It is in theory a tasteless and odorless spirit.
After initially ignoring the demand for the first and only craft vodka distilled in all of Northern Utah, the Crosses finally decided to bring the oft-conflicted worlds of art and technology together. They Zen’d a uniquely-crafted vodka, rare in terms of sugar source and distillation practices.
Ogden Valley Vodka is one of only two vodkas in the entire United States distilled from agave. Vodka can be distilled from any sugar source. The Crosses chose as their sugar source the most natural and pure one they could find. One that few others use and one which engineer Chris had already mastered in terms of both fermentation and distillation. And so, Ogden Valley Vodka.
So what does one do with a perfectly natural neutral, sippingly-smooth vodka? One designs a bottle that is as beautiful, unique, and Zen as the spirit within. The Ogden Valley Vodka bottle features art that depicts all that the Crosses love most about the Ogden Valley: the wrap-around mountains, the pristine air, the ability to see the stars against a dark sky. The ability to identify with a place that speaks to “purity.”
By designating their Vodka as the “Community Spirit” and donating a portion of the profits each year to a local conglomerate of non-profits in the Ogden Valley, the Crosses fulfill the most hopeful Zen concept. They create something from nothing, nothing from something, and accomplish good in the process.
The perfection of neutrality through technology. The creation of art on a bottle that captures the perfection that we see in our everyday spectacular surroundings, and the ability to embrace a spirit of a community grounded in aesthetics is how we too came to love vodka. Ogden Valley Vodka is only available at New World Distillery in Eden…naturally.
A rarefied location, distilled.
An essential life, distilled.
An essential dream, distilled.
Well of course, New World Distillery. Cheers.
Watch out for New World Distillery’s upcoming events
Learn more at newworlddistillery.com