High West Encourages Consumers To Drink ‘Campfire’ Instead Of Lighting One To Protect The West

A fan favorite whiskey is back on the shelves this season, and it’s re-launch coincides with a renewed effort to help wildfire firefighters and other causes.

High West Distillery recently released its Campfire blend of rye, bourbon and scotch to coincide with the Park City, Utah distillery’s new campaign, “Protect the West.”

“Just last year, a wildfire came within miles of Park City, affecting people in our community,” says Daniel Schear, general manager of High West. “As we talked about what to do for Campfire, we all just sort of said ‘it’s game time.’ Time to make a bigger commitment. Time to use our platforms to draw more awareness to protect the West.”

That led to their “Protect the West” initiative, which is a $1 million commitment to donate to causes that sustain and protect the wildness in the western United States. Their commitment starts with donations to Wildland Firefighter Foundation, American Prairie and Protect Our Winters. “We live out here, but even if you just visit the West on vacation, you have to feel in your bones that protecting this beautiful part of the world is something we should all strive to do,” he says.

The first part is a donation of $50,000 to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. The distillery has also pledged to match donations of consumers for up to an additional $50,000, and people can head here to donate and have their contributions matched.

“The West is our home,” Schear says. “This initiative is less about starting to care about protecting the West and more about recognizing that we could and should do more. We launched ‘Protect the West’ in tandem with the national release of Campfire as it provides a platform for us to spotlight how dangerous wildfires continue to be across. The American West is burning more quickly than it has in a decade.”

“About 3 million acres of land have burned just this year – that’s the size of Connecticut,” Schear points out. “So it’s just as important to us that we use this moment to encourage consumers to not light a campfire but drink one instead.”

Consumers might just go ahead and drink it without any thoughts to actually lighting fires, as it’s a sought-after whiskey. The whiskey, which retails for $79.99, is a smooth, smokey whiskey that is really reminiscent of an actual campfire.

“Due to some changes at the distillery, we stopped selling it nationally a couple of years ago,” Schear says. “We got it in the ear from High West fans instantly, and it, frankly, hasn’t let up. We are excited to once again offer Campfire nationally with a new look and a more meaningful purpose behind it.”

The whiskey tastes great, he says, on the rocks, but it also is delicious in coffee. “When I go backpacking I usually bring a flask of whiskey, and you are crazy cold, sitting outside your tent, nothing warms you from the inside out like a cup of coffee with some whiskey in it,” Schear says. “Campfire adds this smokey sweetness that takes it to the next level.”