Butch Knowles sits horseback during the video shoot for Chute Eight American Whiskey. The promotional video was shot earlier this year on Knowles' ranch along Butter Creek south of Hermiston.

A piece of Hermiston history is rising in prominence, as Chute Eight Whiskey has become well-known at rodeos around the west. Recently, rodeos in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Colorado Springs, Colorado, named the beverage, which is named after Farm-City Pro Rodeo’s bar and entertainment venue, as their official whiskey.

The beverage was created with the intention of bringing money back to rodeo contestants, according to rodeo board member Dennis Barnett.

“We were looking for the option to give purse money back to the cowboys,” he said. “Our livelihood is based on the cowboys’ success, so they can keep coming back to our event.”

Chute Eight Whiskey has been in existence since 2015, when rodeo board members approached the Portland company Indio Spirits.

“Farm-City came to us with a label design,” said Indio CEO John Ufford. “I made up some samples of different whiskeys we could do.”

Ufford said the company is trying to market the drink to as many rodeos as possible, but will also be selling it internationally, come August.

“We’ll start selling in New Zealand and Australia in August, and Japan by the end of the year,” he said. “And obviously we sell in Hermiston.”

Though the purpose of the whiskey was to bring revenue back to competitors, Ufford said that likely won’t happen for this year’s event.

“The money will start coming back in for next year’s prizes,” he said. “We have a lot of up-front marketing, and we have to hit a minimum. We’ll hit that minimum this year, it’s based on cases sold.”

Barnett said they were not yet satisfied with their revenue from the product, but hoped they would hit their goal in the next year.

“We’d like to be giving multiple thousands back to the cowboys,” he said. “Our goal is to increase the purse over a period of time, substantially. Right now, it’s $13,000 per event. We would like to double that.”

He added that they had some marketing goals to reach first.

“Once we reach that, our goal is to put every dime back in,” he said.

The company also shot a promotional video featuring Farm-City founders and former rodeo rides Butch Knowles and David Bothum, set on Knowles’ ranch. The short video shows the two men riding horses, separately, and meeting at a fence — where they reach across and shake hands. The two men on horseback, shaking hands, is featured on the whiskey’s label and, according to Knowles, the way they’ve always conducted business.

“In the old West, many deals were settled with a handshake,” he said. “It is the Code of the West.”

Barnett agreed.

“Hopefully that handshake means something in today’s world,” he said.

In addition to the American whiskey, the company has also created a Chute Eight Vodka.