This advertising content was produced in collaboration with our partner, Wyoming Whiskey.
Kate and Brad Mead are fourth-generation ranchers with family histories in Wyoming stretching back to the 1890s. Following in the footsteps of their forebearers, the couple bought a ranch in Kirby. But in 2009, they did something that nobody else in Wyoming has ever done: along with David DeFazio, they established the Cowboy State’s first legal distillery.
The Meads were inspired by their high-prairie land, which was ideal for growing grains. Now they produce their whiskey using non-GMO corn, wheat, and malted barley, sourced entirely within 100 miles of the distillery, and with water that reaches the property through a limestone aquifer. The region’s extreme weather wasn’t quite as ideal for whiskey-making as that water, but pioneers of the west have never been the type to shy away from a challenge. They recruited Steve Nally, a distiller whose work with Maker’s Mark earned him a spot in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, to put the drastic daily and seasonal temperature swings and high-prairie environment to work in producing the unique flavors of Wyoming Whiskey.
Today, the flagship lineup includes single barrel and small batch bourbons, all matured for a minimum of five years in newly charred oak barrels, and the category-defying Outryder Whiskey, representing Wyoming Whiskey’s first use of rye. The company has also become known for its National Parks Series, with each annual bottling celebrating the landscape that inspires the bourbons. The latest installment, National Parks No. 4 Straight Bourbon Whiskey, is a blend of more than 70 barrels of wheated bourbon, paying tribute to Yellowstone’s Mammoth Hot Springs.
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This fall saw the release of Old Faithful, part of the Wide Open Spaces Series, and a tribute to Yellowstone’s iconic Old Faithful geyser and the legendary F. Jay Haynes whose photography graces the label. The 10-year-old, limited-edition bourbon is a blend of three choice barrels and delivers a medley of notes from baking spices, orange peel, and toffee to Black Forest cake. Wyoming Whiskey’s appreciation for the state doesn’t end with the whiskey; in honor of the 2024 releases, the company donated $150,000 to Yellowstone Forever, a foundation that preserves and protects the national park.
Collectively, the founders embody the essence of Wyoming, with their lives as influenced by the landscape as their whiskeys. Brad Mead, an attorney, continues to oversee the ranch he grew up on while running Kirby Ranch and the distillery as well; Kate Mead, also an attorney, runs Mead Ranch Natural Beef, which supplies many local restaurants; and cofounder DeFazio is a bona fide outdoorsman—a river guide, skier, and angler—intimately acquainted with the natural wonders of Wyoming that inspire their whiskey.
