Making Memories in a Spirited Manner

The Spirit Vault in the Cheyenne Club at Brush Creek's Farm has few counterparts anywhere in the world. Coming into the lounge area where there is a bar for pouring drinks, the most overwhelming sight is all the bottles that are kept in their individual lockers.

Matt Sandoval, who describes himself as a memory maker, said each vault gives out information on each bottle every time it is removed.

The spirit vault is literally that. Each bottle is electronically tagged and, when it leaves its locker, it has roughly 20 minutes to be returned to its place before it is flagged as being stolen. If a bottle actually leaves the room, its tracker says it is stolen. If the bottle leaves the building completely, the authorities are alerted.

No bottle wanders without Sandoval knowing where it is.

The Spirit Vault has many spirits not available elsewhere in the state and are not even easily found in the best bars of the world.

One whiskey label, in particular, is one of four in the world.

It is a single malt scotch. This MaCallan No. 6 single malt had a sibling recently sell for $685,000. Those zeroes aren't a mistake. That would make this whiskey go for about $27,400 an ounce.

Sandoval said he is not at liberty to say how much the Cheyenne Club paid for their bottle, but he does acknowledge it is a special bottle. The whiskey is housed in a Lalique bottle that, alone, would run in hundreds of dollars.

This memory maker guide of enjoying fine spirits comes from a small town in Texas, north of Abilene.

"My family is all cattle and cotton farmers," Sandoval said. "There is not any one in my family that you call foodies and actually none are big drinkers. I do remember watching the movie 'Coyote Ugly' fairly young and seeing the bar scene as fun. Even though it was about female bartenders, the fun they had behind the bar inspired me to learn about the business."

As he got old enough to bartend, the first restaurant he worked in was Tom Perini Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap.

"There I got immersed in the wine world and mixology," Sandoval said. "This place's claim to fame was when it won best steakhouse in a contest sponsored by the Wall Street Journal and then, after that, he was asked to serve the president at the White House."

Sandoval said he learned a lot from his first job, but he wanted to travel.

"One day my mom mentioned looking at resorts and being a traveling bartender, which at first I sort of laughed it off, but then I applied to some places and got hired at a country club in North Carolina," Sandoval said. "After that I just kept traveling."

Sandoval ended up at Mountain Sky Ranch in Montana. It is a five star all inclusive retreat that is owned by the founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons.

"I learned more about wine there than any place," Sandoval said. "It is where I heard the phrase a wine is good if you like it. I love that phrase and it translates to spirits."

As much as Sandoval loved the industry, he did find himself burning out. So he left.

"I had reached this point where I didn't know where the next step was for me to go in the industry, so I went to something else," Sandoval explained. "I took a couple years off and became a certified trainer. Then I realized I missed the industry, so I started looking."

He found that Brush Creek was advertising for the position he currently has. He did research on the job and it all just worked out.

Sandoval said as he got more exposure during his years at different food and beverage venues, he didn't look at other places as competition, but rather places to find elements to respect and possibly emulate.

"You know in this industry, you have to look at every concept and understand what they are going for," Sandoval said. "You have to, in my eyes, have respect for all the different ideas out there. If you go into the industry always being competition and trying to one-up, you can lose sight of your goals and you lose respect of those around you. It is a give and take."

Sandoval said he looks at places that may be very different, but looks to find what he can respect about how it conducts business.

"I think when it comes to us (Cheyenne Club) and our vision here, I like the concept of history and menus versus bartenders that talk about facts pointing out they know this and they know that," Sandoval said. "Am I the most knowledgeable on every spirit in the world? No, I am not. But when it comes to this program, and what I personally value is tasting and what we create when we are around food and spirits, it is nothing more than creating history. People associate labels and these experiences with memories. It is not about what I am throwing in front of you and how many facts I can tell you, it is me almost interviewing my guest as I ask them 'what experience are you going for.'"

Sandoval looks to capture the moment and memory of their experience in coming into the spirit vault.

"That is how I pull the bottles for a guest," Sandoval explained. "My demeanor is meant to be genuine because I am out to create the moment, because technically someone can look back at this moment and say one of two things; either,' Matthew knew all these facts on this and that', but I would prefer the other option. 'We had this amazing experience, we got to try these different things,' even if they only remember one label, I want them to look back at the memory and see it as genuine."

Sandoval wants the guests who come into the lounge to connect to the atmosphere that is being presented.

"And that is creating history," Sandoval said. "You are actually creating a moment in time that they are connecting with that specific label or with specific bourbon or scotch or tequila that they tasted here."

Sandoval acknowledges the bar in the lounge can make mixed drinks, but prefers to stay with one spirit for its taste.

"I want the customer to know the exact taste and not hide it behind a mixer," Sandoval said. "I look at taste like a book with pages that sometimes you read fast and sometimes you read slow and savor."

He used Dalmore 35 year Single Malt Scotch as an example.

"It is a beautiful scotch, it is exceptional", Sandoval said. "But what I find so interesting about it is that you get 10 to 15 different tasting notes in a couple of sips. Once you think you have a note established, another tasting note takes over. It is that flipping of the pages."

His favorite spirit from a professional and personal standpoint is the MaCallan brand.

"It is the easiest label for me to push, because I have so many memories of it," Sandoval said. "Once I get someone comfortable with their tasting, I can see if they are happy with what they are experiencing or if they feel adventurous and want to try something else."

He says labels a customer prefers don't mean as much as finding out the taste. Sandoval needs to understand the taste to give a customer the memory of a label.

"I ask them why they like the brand. What is it about the taste or smell that draws them to it," Sandoval explained. "That is how we start and design the memory. It is actually fun."

He said as far as customers going for the most expensive label; just because they can, doesn't always mean they should.

"There are some bottles here that are $4500 an ounce and customers can pay that," Sandoval said. "But sometimes it isn't about the sale. Yes, business is business and we want to make a profit, but my goal here, and Bruce White's (owner of Brush Creek) goal, and what we look at is if somebody walks in and I have one allocated bottle and I don't know when I am ever going to get that bottle again, who I sell that ounce to makes a difference. It is like being a referee on understanding the rules of an individual's taste. It is about watching out for the guest."

Sandoval is happy to be at Brush Creek's Farm at this point in his life.

"I have been lucky to have been around a lot of great people over the years," Sandoval said. "I would just listen to them and that is what I still do now. Every guest that comes here, I look forward to making an experience and memory that will last forever in their minds that is associated with this wonderful place."