Brendan Coyle, who’s labored at Excessive West Distillery in Park Metropolis, Utah since 2008, has left to focus full-time on Dendric Property, a cidery that he co-founded together with his spouse Carly in Kamas, about 15 miles east of Park Metropolis. Coyle has juggled his duties at Excessive West and people of his fledgling enterprise since 2023, shifting from the grasp distiller function to change into its spirits marketing consultant. Now, Dendric (whose identify refers back to the branch-like “dendritic” tributaries that circulation from the Uinta Mountains that flank the property) will take complete share of his time, simply because it gears as much as launch its first cider subsequent month.
Dendric’s debut cider, Dry Reduce—a reference to its bone-dry taste profile—is six years within the making, the results of a number of R&D trials each within the orchards and on the manufacturing aspect. Coyle likens it extra to a dry glowing wine than a candy cider, provided that it’s made utilizing conventional winemaking methods, amongst them the charmat technique, which sees secondary fermentation happen in stainless-steel tanks. Ultimately, two extra ciders will be part of the core lineup, punctuated by 4 seasonal releases all year long. Whereas Dry Reduce shall be a Utah unique, by subsequent 12 months, Dendric’s attain will unfold to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
Nearly all of Dendric’s fruit comes immediately from its 20-acre property, the place Coyle has trialed quite a few apple varieties on the hunt for what works greatest, with the rest imported from companion growers in Utah’s Kamas Valley. Ultimately, the property shall be open to the general public; Coyle says a restricted tasting area shall be up and operating by fall, however an expansive 4,300-square-foot tasting room with a full bar, on-site kitchen, and occasion area is additional off, coming in 2027.
Coyle’s distilling expertise shall be put to make use of at Dendric, and presumably elsewhere as properly. Along with an eventual spirits program at Dendric (plans at present are imprecise, however Coyle is ready on bringing in a French nonetheless for calvados-style apple brandy and eaux de vie), there may additionally be extra whiskey in his future. “[Distilling] will at all times maintain a particular place in my coronary heart,” he says. “This isn’t the final of me within the whiskey area, whether or not it’s a collaboration or one thing else—I wouldn’t go away it 100% behind.”
As Excessive West’s grasp distiller, Coyle led the incorporation of the corporate’s own-make into its blends. He additionally oversaw the transfer into Excessive West’s new, fashionable distillery in Wanship, Utah, in 2015. Earlier than Coyle’s tenure as grasp distiller started, Excessive West’s whiskey was fully sourced from Indiana’s MGP, Kentucky’s Barton 1792, and different undisclosed distilleries in Kentucky and Scotland. Slowly however absolutely, Excessive West distillate was built-in into its whiskeys like Double Rye and Campfire, along with the launch of Excessive County American single malt in 2019, the primary extra broadly accessible 100% Excessive West whiskey.
What does Coyle’s departure imply for Excessive West? Main the group now shall be director of distilling Isaac Winter and director of sensory and new product improvement Tara Lindley. Even earlier than Coyle’s departure, Winter had spearheaded a key venture for the distillery: The launch of its first-ever bottled in bond rye, which debuted in February 2024.
