WYOMING WHISKEY DEBUTS AT K&L
The wonderful Wyoming Whiskey has finally arrived and stands out as one of the best values in craft whiskey on the market today. This is truly old school Kentucky style wheated bourbon that just happens to be made in Wyoming. They even went so far as to bring former Maker’s Mark Master Distiller Steve Nally to Kirby, WY to set up the operation. The biggest difference between Steve’s KY and WY Whiskey production is the use of local grain and the temperature of the warehouses. Wyoming has greater diurnal fluctuations during the spring and summer months, which accounts for some additional barrel interaction during these months compared to Kentucky. In the winter, a complete maturation shut down occurs due Wyoming’s long cold winter, a problem Kentucky addressed more than 100 years ago with heated warehouses. Otherwise production is nearly identical to Maker’s. They use a deep limestone aquifer nearly 40 miles from the distillery. They employ a traditional sour mash set back using two proprietary yeast strains selected for productive and flavorful fermentation. The wash heads into a tall thin column and is distilled to 130 proof before being cut to 110 proof and filled into 53 gallon barrels. The whiskey is generally aged five years and bottled at an unusual 44% abv (Wyoming was apparently the 44th state). After five long winters they’re pulling something absolutely delicious out of those barrels. One of the finest craft bourbons we’ve seen to date and certainly an incredible value.
Wyoming Whiskey Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) $34.99
All the good folks at Wyoming Whiskey wanted to do was make some good old fashioned rye whiskey. When they approached Master Distiller Steve Nally and his response was unequivocally, “NO!” Asking a wheated bourbon boy to make you rye whiskey is a bit like asking a F-16 Pilot to drive a tank, it’s probably not going to go smoothly. After much insistence from his employer, Master Distiller Steve Nally finally relinquished. On day one of rye production things went awry (no pun intended). Steve was fuming. He had warned everyone about the dangers of rye. The fermenters boiled over, the wash was sticky, no fun for anyone. Steve Nally eventually got it done along with a hearty “I told you so.” Only a few years later, it became clear that despite the production difficulties, they’d achieved something extra special that one disastrous week in the distillery. Eventually, the distillery decided to bottle their very first Straight Rye Whiskey and reached out to Mr. Nally to get the precise mashbill of this special little whiskey. His nonchalant response was, “48% Rye, 40% Corn, 12% Malt.” He said he wouldn’t make it and true to his word, he didn’t. The resulting whiskey is no less delicious and was ultimately blended with traditional high rye recipe bourbon also distilled in November of 2011. As per usual all the grain is non-GMO and sourced from a farm in Byron, WY. This is what happens when you stick wings and a jet engine on an M1 Abrams, its freakin’ awesome!
Wyoming Whiskey “Outryder” Straight American Whiskey (750ml) $49.99
