The Ryes of Wyoming Whiskey

The Ryes of Wyoming Whiskey

Visiting an outrider of the American whiskey scene
By Mark Bylok
When Brad and Kate Mead founded Wyoming Whiskey a decade ago, their inspiration was a smooth Kentucky wheated Bourbon. They followed the example of Kentucky Bourbon makers, but that’s not quite how their whiskey turned out. Did terroir affect it or is the whiskey a product of its environment? The 10-year history of Wyoming Whiskey is a story of people, landscape and mistakes made along the way.

The Meads have been ranchers since 1890. However, when a virus carried by local moose endangered their cattle near Yellowstone Park, they thought it was time to diversify. Selling off some land near Jackson, they bought another ranch further east at Kirby, Wyoming, away from moose. At the same time, they looked for other ways to use their ranch land. Kirby is ideal for grain farming and after digging a little deeper, making whiskey was an obvious choice.
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