Park City’s Proverbial Spirits has a tale as old as time—or, a tale as old as the 20th century, anyway. The three co-founders and friends, who met through their work in commercial filmmaking, found they shared an interest in gin and were determined to start their own distillery.

If fortune favors the bold, then Proverbial Spirits’ brightly colored, tongue-in-cheek branding should meet with success. Their flagship No Rest for The Wicked gin includes the typical juniper as well as coriander, black peppercorn, and blood orange, which co-founder Steven Currie describes as their “signature botanical, making it a citrus-forward profile.” The Loose Lips Sink Ships rum nods to the World War II propaganda slogan, and the Never Say Never vodka acknowledges their decision to make a vodka after first aiming to focus on rum and gin. 

All the founders are Utah residents or natives: Steven Currie and Rudy Lehfeldt-Ehlinger have lived in Park City for years, while Michael Kunde was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley. The trio experimented for three years before finding their ideal flavor profile and launching the brand in 2022. “What makes us unique is that we make our product from scratch,” Currie explains. They distill their own base spirit for the gin, creating what is essentially a vodka from corn, grain, and rye sourced locally from Utah and Idaho, before adding their chosen botanicals. 

Currie is excited for the upcoming launch of the brand’s Knock on Wood rum, aged in dessert wine barrels from the Kunde Family Winery in California’s Sonoma Valley. They also hope that their fun and educational approach to spirits can “[give] people more tools to make great cocktails,” including canned cocktails, which are in the works.

All three founders continue to work in film while running the distillery, located just off Highway 189. They hope to eventually expand to offer a tasting room or bar as well.