Brigham Young is most-widely known for leading the pioneers across the plains to Salt Lake City, and declaring in 1847, “This is the right place.” What many may not know, however, is that Brigham Young, along with early pioneers and settlers of the Salt Lake Valley, spent much of their time distilling and selling whiskey, and the first recorded distillery was built in Utah in 1854.

“If you look at the list of required provisions for LDS pioneers heading west, it lists ten gallons of whiskey as an essential provision for new homesteading pioneers,” said historian Brock Cheney. “The prohibition of alcohol by Mormons today is a modern take, mostly post WWII. Valley Tan was present, but wine and hard cider production were much more commonly produced and consumed by the Mormon pioneers.”

While Young discouraged members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from drinking alcohol, he did sanction involvement in the distillery process for medicinal purposes, trade, and sale to non-Mormons. 

Valley Tan was one of the most famous products distilled by Young, and was widely-known as a rather strong alcohol.

“The exclusive Mormon refresher, Valley Tan, is a kind of Whiskey, or first cousin to it, of Mormon invention and manufactured only in Utah,” stated Mark Twain in his book, Roughing It, in 1871. “Tradition says it is made of [imported] fire and brimstone. If I remember rightly, no public drinking saloons were allowed in the kingdom by Brigham Young, and no private drinking permitted among the faithful, except they confined themselves to Valley Tan.”

While Valley Tan initially referred to anything created by the Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley, the term eventually came to refer to whiskey specifically.

“I have seen it implied that Valley Tan was ostensibly the only spirit that Mormons were allowed to consume,” said Austin Jones, Whiskey Education & Trade Supervisor at High West Distillery. “In 1869, the year before Brigham Young banned private distilling, there were 37 licensed distilleries in Utah and all of them were owned and operated by Mormons, with five being owned by Brigham Young himself.”

Some sources say Young didn’t participate in the distilling of Valley Tan personally, but rather, oversaw the production and sale of the alcohol. 

“In my research I never came across any primary source documents that discussed Brigham’s participation in distilling,” said Cheney. “He was more of a manager than a doer, so if he was involved, it would have been in funding and directing the operation at a distance.”

During the 1850s-1860s, Valley Tan referred to a signature whiskey distilled in the area, and was sold at the Church-owned Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI). Cheney says that, generally speaking, Valley Tan refers to whiskey made locally.

“Valley Tan is the local name for the locally produced whiskey,” said Cheney. “There was a wide range of formulations by a wide range of home producers that received this label. It was not a homogeneous product. Anything produced by Mormons in the Utah Territory could have been called Valley Tan.”

In 1861, members of a committee representing the production and sale of alcohol in and around the Salt Lake Valley wrote a letter to the Mayor of Salt Lake City, stating the desire for the city to own the distillery, according to Lights and Shadows of Mormonism, published in 1909. 

“Your committee, to whom was referred the subject of the manufacture and sale of spirituous liquor, would report that they visited several distilleries in and near the city and would respectfully recommend that the City Council purchase or rent the distillery erected by Brigham Young near the Mouth of Parley’s Canyon, and put the same in immediate operation, employing such persons as shall be deemed necessary to manufacture a sufficient quantity to answer the public demand; controlling the sale of the same, and that the profits accruing therefrom be paid into the City Treasury.”

From this point forward, this distillery was owned and operated by Salt Lake City and continued to thrive for years before information regarding the distillery faded in the late 1860s and early 1870s. It is assumed that this is when the distillery ceased production and closed its doors. This assumption also stems from the fact that Brigham Young began pushing the Mormon Word of Wisdom on the Church’s members during this time, leading to the disintegration of the distillery itself.

While Brigham Young supported and actively oversaw distilling during this time, he was only involved until the 1870s, after which no record exists of him supporting the distilling or sale of alcohol among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“In my research, whiskey rarely shows up,” said Cheney. “Leonard Arrington, an historian for the LDS Church, wrote a paper about it, and suggested it was primarily produced for sale to outsiders heading to the California gold rush. That makes it sound like Mormons didn’t drink. The truth is, they drank plenty, but mostly beer, wine, and hard cider, and also coffee and tea.”

Cheney says that while there may be rumors tied to Brigham Young distilling Valley Tan, those rumors may simply be rumors due to his historical status. 

“Brigham Young is an iconic figure in the history of the West, but he is anything but typical,” said Cheney. “He’s legendary, and so it’s impossible to take anything you hear about him in anything less than extraordinary context. If you want to know about the typical daily life of everyday Mormon pioneers, ignore any rumors tied to Brigham Young.”

From 2013-2019, High West Distillery released a special run of Valley Tan whiskey, made with a recipe used by Brigham Young himself. 

“Initially, Valley Tan was an oat whiskey briefly aged in used cooperage,” said Jones. “After the second batch, we switched to using a blend of that same oat whiskey with some wheat whiskey aged in a combination of new and used cooperage, after our founders discovered that was more historically accurate. My understanding is that the second version of Valley Tan was based on a recipe that was attributed to Brigham Young.”

Selling Valley Tan was a decision made by High West Distillery to honor the pioneers and the significance of Brigham Young’s whiskey in the state’s history.

“The decision to sell Valley Tan was seemingly rooted in our founders, Dave and Jane Perkins, love of history,” said Jones. “They were fascinated with Utah’s early distilling history and once they found a recipe for Valley Tan, they jumped at the opportunity to revive the forgotten style. Valley Tan was never distributed outside of Utah and was a staple distillery exclusive for years.”

High West’s unique release of Valley Tan is characteristic of their whiskey quality and originality as the state’s largest production distillery. 

“When High West Distillery opened in 2007, we were the first legally licensed distillery in Utah since 1870,” said Jones.