Lost Spirits

In 2016, Davis drew on his background working in themed construction to build a series of small themed tasting rooms to showcase the distilleries rums and whiskies.[15] The tasting rooms were connected by a boat ride and featured a series of jungle rooms themed around the Island of Dr. Moreau.[16] Admission was free and the low budget theme, handmade, park was described by Davis as a personal hobby.[17]

The property expanded to include a series of neighboring buildings connected by a hidden railroad easement. Additional tasting rooms were added including the Brandy Carousel (a carousel and trick room that floated on water and was spun by desk fans and sails), Whisky Island, and a gift shop show that parodied Walt Disneys Enchanted Tiki Room.[18]

Lost Spirits became known for its distinctive style of painted plywood artwork, evocative of a 19th century carnival, mixed with an unusual sense of humor.[19][20]

In 2018 Lost Spirits Distillery was named the world's best distillery experience by The Drinks Business UK, The American Distilling Institute, and The Spirits Business Magazine.[21][22][23]

The operation was closed during the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19.[24]

During the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19 Davis, and the Lost Spirits engineering staff moved to Las Vegas and built a larger distillery and themed environment at Area 15.[25]

The Las Vegas version remains themed around victorian literature, and leans heavily on the painted plywood art aesthetic and unusual sense of humor of the original. It features rickshaw rides, a victorian village, jungle scapes, and a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, themed submarine tasting room.[26]

Lost Spirits, Las Vegas, was described in initial reviews as "A (sophisticated) Disney and Willy Wonka." by Forbes, "An adult Disneyland where you can sip high-end hooch on the rides by "The Las Vegas Review Journal" and as "A Surreal Dreamscape" by Josh Gates.[27][28][29]

Lost Spirits Distillery was founded in 2010 by distiller Bryan Davis and Joanne Haruta. The first location was in rural Monterey County California, built on land owned by Haruta's family. The facility became well known for its distinctive design, which included Japanese styled tea gardens and stills fitted with sculpted dragon heads.[30][31]

Lost Spirits initially produced highly idiosyncratic malt whiskies. The unusual profiles of the early whiskies earned the distillery polarized and mixed reviews. They were described by French whisky critic Serge Valentin as “It’s pretty useless to try to score this... All codes, barriers and tasting semantics have already been broken anyway.[32]”

The early whiskies fetched high auction prices. One release called Umami was, at the time, the world's only whisky fermented in ocean water.[33][34] The release won a Liquid Gold award in Jim Murrays Whisky bible[35] and auction prices for Umami climbed to over $1,600 per bottle.[36] Whisky Magazine UK then nominated Lost Spirits for Craft Distillery of the Year.[37]

Later expressions bottled under the brand Abomination were critical successes as well.[38]

In 2013, Davis ceased making whisky and began making rum.[39] The new rum line became closely associated with the Tiki Revival Movement.[40] The line was prominently featured in lectures and classes at Tiki Oasis in San Diego, the Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale, and Tiki Caliente in Palm Springs. The 2021 Las Vegas version of Lost Spirits is focused on expanding the rum line.[41]

In 2015 the company attracted global media attention when it announced that its co-founder, Bryan Davis, had invented a new means of aging spirits. Davis' process was shown, using modern analytical chemistry, to replicate the chemical reactions which take place as spirits age in barrels.[42][43][44] It produces in days what is said to taste like decades aged spirits. This is done by a special processes that aims to replicate the ageing process in a laboratory while producing the same chemical signature and taste.[45][46][47][48][49]

In late 2014 Lost Spirits filed patents for a spirits aging technology. The technology was shown capable of reproducing the chemical signature of rum aged for 20 years in barrels, in less than a weeks time. The high-tech process utilized heat and specific bands of light to break down oak barrel wood. The process was granted a US patent in 2015 and subsequently granted patents in Israel, China, India, Japan, and Australia.

According to the Huffington Post, Davis had been using preliminary versions of the technology to produce all of his past rums and some of the early whiskies, which may partially explain some of the distilleries critical successes.[50]

Davis’ final rum produced at Lost Spirits Monterey county location was made entirely using the new technology. It was bottled under the brand name Lost Spirits Colonial Inspired Rum and sold exclusively through Bounty Hunter Rare Wines in Napa, California. The rum was initially released at $100 per bottle without disclosing the use of the technology. The critical reception was extremely favorable.[51][52][53][54] Christopher Null broke the story of the technology in Wired Magazine creating significant controversy and a great deal of media attention.[55]

In early 2015, just before the original distillery closed, the Spirits Business Magazine awarded Lost Spirits its first Global Master Award in the category of distillery innovation for its aging work.[56]