High West Distillery has crowned the winner of its first-ever national bartending competition, bringing together 11 regional champions from across the country to Park City for The Fastest Hands in the High West.
The contest started as a one-off event in Salt Lake City. But after its success, High West expanded it to all of its U.S. regions. Local account managers across 11 states accepted applications, visited bars and narrowed down competitors for regional contests throughout the year.
Then winners from each city traveled to Park City for the “High West experience”: a distillery tour, a dinner at Nelson’s Cottage, horseback riding and finally, the championship round at the High West Saloon on Wednesday night.
Each stage of the competition followed the same format: bartenders were tasked with making three classic whiskey cocktails — an old fashioned, a New York sour with egg white, and a paper plane — as quickly as possible. Judges from High West scored not just speed, but accuracy and flavor balance, with penalties for spills, missed garnishes or off-ratio drinks.
“It’s the fastest hands in the West, but at the same time, the drinks had to be balanced, and that was the biggest thing that we were judging on,” said Steve Walton, High West’s director of hospitality and one of three judges for the final event. “So, is there too much lemon in the whiskey sour? Is there too much whiskey in the old fashioned, or too much bitters or too much sugar?”
The opening round featured five head-to-head matchups, with one competitor advancing directly to the semifinals after winning a previous High West blind taste test. The semifinal added an extra challenge: competitors had to make the same cocktails using only one hand.
“That was the hardest,” said Salt Lake City competitor Davis Bulger from Quarters Arcade Bar after his semifinal performance. “They told us a few days ago, but it was the one I should’ve practiced more.”
For some bartenders, the one-handed format changed the game, but Walton noted that the adjustment had an unexpected benefit.
“They slowed down, which actually sped them up a bit … because you can’t do two things at once, and you can only pick up a certain amount of bottles, and you can only shake one at a time,” he said. “I was actually more impressed by the one handed component of the competition than the other two rounds, just because I feel the quality of the cocktail was phenomenal coming from all of the competitors.”
The semifinals narrowed the field to two: Levi Brown of Los Angeles and Gregory Bell of Philadelphia. In the final, the bartenders faced an expanded challenge, adding a Manhattan and a Gold Rush to the mix.
Gregory Bell, a bartender from Atlanta, kept a serious, focused look leading up to the final showdown to determine the “Fastest Hands in the High West.” Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record 
Finalist Gregory Bell gave a look to the crowd after putting hands down, clocking in at just under two minutes to make five cocktails. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record
The styles of the two finalists contrasted sharply. Brown set up with his own set of tools in a leather duffel bag, and finished his round with a celebratory trick shot. Bell, on the other hand, relied on calm, serious focus. He made strategic choices, like skipping the use of a strainer and using the other side of the shaker when pouring drinks. He also managed to pour from four bottles at once, earning gasps — and a “go Eagles!” — from the crowd.
“I was very impressed when I saw four bottles being picked up at the same time, and at the same time, you’re counting!” Walton recalled, referring to the technique of mixing without using measuring cups or jiggers. “Whatever his count is on an ounce-and-a-half of whiskey, it’s like, ‘one, two, three,’ and you’re doing that as well as pouring upside down, and you’re doing all these other things at once.”
As a former bartender himself, he joked he would have never stood a chance in the competition: “I was absolutely super impressed by the technique, the skills of these people. It blew me away.”
Timing, of course, was a critical factor in the final round, especially where the judges were extra strict with penalties.
“In the first rounds, they were in the one minute, one minute-10,” Walton said. “The winner, outside of penalties, came in just under two minutes.”
The winner being Bell, who ended the night with $5,000 in prize money, along with a $5,000 donation to a High West nonprofit partner of his choice. Between Protect Our Winters, American Prairie and the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, Bell dedicated the money to the firefighters.
During a photo op with an oversized check, Bell described his experience as “a mix of fear and excitement.”
For the audience, the competition doubled as an evening of entertainment for the lucky few with a clear view of the bar, the rest making do with music from a DJ and the energetic cheers and cowbells of the group.
Stephanie Jeffers, attending with her husband, Stephen, on their first night out away from their young children, said the event brought back memories from her time as a bartender. That’s where the couple had met, actually, which is why Stephen bought tickets when High West advertised through their newsletter.
Walton said the “Fastest Hands in the High West” competition will definitely return, and already they’re planning ways to improve.
As a few attendees filtered out of the Saloon back to cars, there was one satisfied sigh: “Well done, High West.”