Thumb Butte Distillery

I visited Thumb Butte Distillery in Prescott during my annual winter trek to Arizona this year.  The stated purpose for the trip was to avoid some nasty Ohio weather and visit an old friend, but I thought it would also be interesting to try and determine the status of bourbon distilling in the Grand Canyon State (A previous article discusses some other Arizona distilleries).

Arizona outlawed alcohol in 1914, some five years before national Prohibition was enacted.  The Arizona Prohibition Amendment, also known as Questions 100 and 101, appeared on the November 3, 1914, ballot, where it passed with 53% of the vote. The measure created Article XXIII of the Arizona Constitution.  Here is the language that appeared on the ballot, according to ballotpedia.org:

My host for this trip was my old college roommate and now-retired dentist, Jimmy (Known as “Dr. Wonderful” by some, “Doc” by most, he lives comfortably in a Phoenix suburb out in the west valley).  Wifeless these days, he’s always up for an adventure.  Let me say this much about my old sidekick: he is not a bourbon drinker, but he is a willing student and susceptible to conversion.  Funny guy, Doc.  Soft-spoken and always smiling, walking into the neighborhood watering hole with him is like walking into Cheers with Norm: everybody greets him enthusiastically as he comes through the door.  He does not know a stranger.

Prescott is a small city about one hundred miles north of Phoenix.  At 5,300 feet elevation, Prescott has a completely different climate than Phoenix.  Doc and his girlfriend go up there for occasional weekends in the summer months as it is much cooler that time of year.

Thumb Butte is only the second distillery licensed in Arizona since the end of Prohibition.  Walking in, the first thing you notice is that everything is in one large room.  The distilling equipment is prominent in the center of the room.  The bar/tasting room is at one end and a large stage is at the other; they offer live music several times each week.  The walls are covered with original art.

The mainstay of Thumb Butte’s offerings is Bloody Basin Bourbon, named after an Indian massacre in 1873, the details of which are pretty gruesome and need not be repeated here.  If you’re just dying to know what happened (no pun intended), check out their website.  The Bloody Basin mashbill contains 71% corn and it’s aged in port wine barrels.  The nose is butterscotch and it tastes of caramel sweetness, as expected from the predominance of corn and the port finish.  Overall, it is nice and pleasant with a lovely lingering finish.

While there, I also tried two other whiskies, Crown King Single Malt and Rodeo Rye.  Crown King is made with 100% malted barley from Great Britain and first aged in a Bloody Basin barrel then finished in a used oloroso sherry cask.  Rodeo Rye is a 95% rye whiskey and has that classic, bold rye flavor.  As the website says: “If you do get into a fight on Whiskey Row, you can also clean out your wounds with our 1888 Rodeo Rye.”  I apologize for not providing more detail about these two as they were last in the tasting lineup, the memory is weak and my notes are indecipherable. 

Western Sage Gin is the pride and joy of Thumb Butte’s President and owner Dana Murdock, who chatted us up while we were there.  “I like gin, try this,” she said, so we did.  Thumb Butte describes it as: “This gin is our tribute to the herbs that grow in the American West. The herb bouquet was designed and bundled by Dana Murdock of Thumb Butte Distillery.  Our Western Sage gin is an unflavored gin with the botanicals added during distillation.  We have reduced the amount of local juniper berries and increased the sage, fennel, coriander and Arizona oranges and lemons. This is a terroir gin, a herbal bouquet with a crisp citrus finish.”  I wish I knew more about gin, this was tasty and complex and the label is a work of art.

Overall, based upon my experience at Thumb Butte, I was getting the impression that the state of distilling in Arizona is not too bad.  Mind you, with such a small number of distillers, this place is not at all like Kentucky, but I was favorably impressed and looking forward to my next visit to old friends and more distilleries in Arizona