Book+Bottle: Local Author Erik Storey’s Books + Peach Street Distillers Smoked Rye Whiskey
THE BOOKS
Local author Erik Storey’s acclaimed, adrenaline-fueled Clyde Barr novels take place in our neck of the woods — western Colorado and eastern Utah. His first book, Nothing Short of Dying, begins and ends in Grand Junction. The second, A Promise to Kill, unfolds just north of the Bookcliffs, near the Uintah-Ouray reservation in northeastern Utah.
Mayhem ensues in these thrillers as their damaged hero, Clyde Barr, does his best to right wrongs and knock heads together. Storey’s descriptions of the local landscape are dead-on. When Clyde is driving up a dirt road through the quakies or sage, or bodies are being thrown into the river at Riverbend Park, you are there. Storey’s language is spare, like the landscape both he and Clyde Barr love. Perhaps that’s because the author has a family history that goes back over 100 years in this part of the West.
A third installment is in the works, making this the perfect time to get acquainted with this series, which has been celebrated by readers and reviewers around the world. Available at select local booksellers and Mesa County Libraries.
— Marya Johnston, owner of Out West Books in downtown Grand Junction
THE BOTTLE
If Clyde Barr is in a bar, he’s more likely to be kicking tail than kicking back. A fireside flask is more his style, and he’ll use what’s inside to soothe his soul (and maybe nurse a wound). The perfect spirit: Peach Street Distillers Smoked Rye Whiskey — aged in bourbon barrels, and best served alongside justice.
“I’m all about unadulterated spirit,” says head distiller Davey Lindig. What started out as an experimental batch of only two barrels became a favorite for those who had the pleasure of tasting it.
“It’s been over a year since we released it,” Lindig adds. “We wanted to do a rye and something smoked, and it was going to be a one-time thing. But people liked it, and we did it again.”
This second go-around will be released at the Great American Beer Festival on September 21 and will be available in local liquor stores in early October.