Utah, widely recognised for having some of the strictest alcohol laws in the US, recently grabbed attention after the discovery of a bottle of booze. Archaeologists uncovered a 150-year-old bottle of alcohol while excavating Alta's historic Water Street, which was once a bustling thoroughfare near Little Cottonwood Creek. The area was destroyed by a deadly avalanche and an ensuing fire in 1885. Experts believe the snow probably buried most of the items, while the subsequent fire likely prevented looters from stealing the objects that remained undiscovered.
Archaeologists and distillers now believe that sometime between 1870 and 1890, someone corked a dark green bottle of alcohol and discarded it in Utah. Now, more than a century later, during a construction project on the United States Forest Service land used by Alta Ski Area, located roughly 30 miles east of Salt Lake City, the bottle gently rolled out of a scoop of dirt.
The bottle was reportedly unearthed last summer during the construction of snowmaking pipes for the ski resort, under the supervision of archaeologists. The digging had already surfaced many other bottles, but this one was different. “When they picked it up, it was still full. It still had a cork in it. We realised, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a real treasure',” Ian Wright, public archaeologist for the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, said to The Park Record.
This is the first time a full bottle of booze has been unearthed from an archaeological site in Utah, according to Ian Wright. He added, “They sometimes find them in Missouri and in places where the Mississippi has shifted, and there's been a sunken boat or a ship, but never in Utah,” further mentioning, “We rarely find a bottle with a cork at all. Or if we do find one, the cork's shrivelled up and shrunk inside of it, or just fragments of it. So that's pretty rare.”
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The Old Bottle Of Utah Alcohol Tastes Fruity, With A Hint Of Leather
The mystery liquid has now become a viral bottle. Isaac Winter, director of distilling at High West Distillery, was the first person to try the concoction. He revealed to FOX 13 News that the historic drink is “fruity” with “a little bit of leather,” adding, “I had a little bit of trepidation going into it, but you have to try it. It didn't smell like gasoline, didn't smell like tobacco spit.”
Later, several other experts revealed that the liquid was likely made from apples, suggesting that it may have been some sort of hard cider. They also hope to recreate the historic drink in the future.
“I know it's a long shot. But if we were able to do that, I just think that's so, so exciting,” Isaac told The Salt Lake Tribune. He also emphasised that whoever made the mysterious liquid was “approaching their craft with intention.”
“This bottle wasn't some rotgut firewater but something driven by delicate aromatics. It wasn't something crude, but something meant to be enjoyed as part of community life—something to celebrate with on the edge of civilisation beneath the towering peaks of Alta,” he shared.
Other Excavated Artefacts
Besides the full bottle, archaeologists have confirmed that they have recovered between 5,000 and 6,000 artefacts at Alta so far. The list includes bones, boot soles, ink wells, bullets, pistols, spoons, tincture and perfume bottles, crockery, fragments of dishes, a well-preserved leather hat with two small holes, and many other items.