LAST SHOT DISTILLERY WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY DEVON TREVATHAN
W
hile Upstate New York is not unfamiliar with the production of beverage alcohol, the area has a much stronger association with wine than spirits. Yet at the top of one of its famous Finger Lakes is the town of Skaneateles, home to Last Shot Distillery and its co-owner and distiller Chris Uyehara. Uyehara has a background unique to both the Finger Lakes and distilling. He’s a native of Hawaii who chose to leave the beaches and tropical climate of Honolulu after falling in love with a girl from New York in college — the opposite of most Upstate natives, who
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often escape the challenging winters to settle in places that offer more moderate seasons. He has also worked in flavor his whole life as a chef trained in patisserie, different varieties of cuisine, and sugar work. Uyehara moved to Upstate New York after he and his wife realized how much more affordable real estate was in the area, and he quickly began a career working in different eateries in Skaneateles, a small, upscale enclave at the top of Skaneateles Lake, which is widely considered the cleanest of the Finger Lakes, so much so that surrounding
municipalities use its water unfiltered. “I’ve been a chef around here, opened restaurants, designed and opened a patisserie, designed and reopened Rosalie’s Cucina bakery,” said Uyehara. Following different gigs he landed a particularly enviable position as a chef at Savannah Dhu, the multimillion dollar hunting lodge and conference center built by the late mall magnate Robert Congel. Savannah Dhu spans 3,9000 acres of Wayne County, New York, about 40 miles west of Syracuse, and is entirely fenced in to allow for big game hunting. During his tenure there, Uyehara
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