6-Year Bourbon — Small-Batch, Special Limited Edition, $85

WYOMING WHISKEY BUFFALO BILL CODY
LIMITED EDITION STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

 

WHY BUY: A year or two ago, we would have said that Wyoming Whiskey was one to watch. Nowadays, they're one to get behind, one of the best of the new-breed craft distillers in America. These small-batch specialists from tiny Kirby, Wyoming (and we do mean tiny — Kirby's total population is just 76 easy-living souls!) do it right, using only locally-sourced, non-GMO grain, drawing glacier water from a limestone aquifer just 50 miles from the distillery, and leaving their seven rickhouses to the whims of the elements, creating untold complexities that end up in every bottle. Every release of theirs manages somehow to be better than the last, and this big, bold homage to Buffalo Bill — a special limited edition, aged six years, that is being distributed for the first time outside Wyoming — is their best yet. For sure, it's everything that makes Wyoming Whiskey special: six years of high-altitude aging that produces bourbon with the kind of character you can't manufacture anywhere else, and with a taste that’s simply like nothing else out there. At 96 proof, it's got backbone enough for the frontier while remaining civilized enough for polite company. Not unlike the legend himself.

OUR TASTING NOTES: The first note rising from the glass could hardly be more striking: a whiff of leather that transports you to well-worn saddles and dusty trails. But from there, surprisingly, it pivots and settles into something more sophisticated: black forest cake with all its cherry and chocolate richness, followed by a wave of toffee and honeyed almonds. The palate continues with the surprises, serving up notes of lemon cake layered with caramel nougat and milk chocolate, and, trailing these delights, almond brittle and honey. The finish is an experience in itself, as cherry and lemon puree give way to candied ginger and molasses, before that characteristic tobacco dryness settles in like dust after a cattle drive.

THE STORY: Sometimes the best business ideas are born from the worst possible beginnings. Brad and Kate Mead were ranchers doing what ranchers do — raising cattle, working the land, living the Wyoming way — when they made what seemed like a perfectly reasonable decision: they bought a Vendome still. Why not make some whiskey? How hard could it be? They brought in businessman David DeFazio to handle the details, fired up the still, and promptly produced what can only be described as a spectacular disaster. Most people would have called it quits, chalked it up to expensive folly, and gone back to ranching. But the partners doubled down. They admitted they didn't know what they were doing and went hunting for someone who did. Enter Steve Nally, the legend, who had spent 33 years running wheated production at Maker's Mark and was enjoying a well-earned retirement until these Wyoming upstarts talked him into one more rodeo. Nally laid the foundation, but they weren't done collecting talent. They added Nancy Fraley, widely known in the industry as "The Nose," whose palate elevated everything, taking them from a maker of promising spirits to one with a real trajectory.

ABV: 48% (96 proof).

FUN FACT: If you look at the bottom of a bottle of Wyoming Whiskey, you’ll find a distinctive “TT” — the ranch's longtime family brand that also marks the cattle Mead Ranch raises.

OUR GUARANTEE: We always buy and source directly from the distillery, so rest assured: your whiskey will arrive in your hands with pristine provenance. Order yours today!