Tiny Kirby to be home of Wyoming Whiskey Distillery

[MrTitleist]

Tiny little Kirby, WY getting whiskey!

From Northern Wyoming Daily News:

By Jeanette Johnson
Staff Writer

KIRBY — Whether headed north or south, take a look to the east at the Kirby turnoff and see the red steel beams and cream-colored metal buildings at the end of the long street into town.

That construction is on its way to becoming the Wyoming Whiskey Distillery, the first licensed distillery in the state.

When the project is completed, travelers will be hard pressed not to notice the illuminated building with the nine plate glass windows showing the 48 foot tall distillation column. Right now, the steel beams stand 20 feet tall beside the 25-foot-high entry peak on the 2500 square foot building. When finished, the building will reach 53 feet on either side of the entry peak.

A stairway up each side will lead to the second level to see into the cookers and watch the fermentation.

“The idea is when people come down the road, they can see it,” Steve Nally said.

It took vision, desire and determination to get this far. That along with visits to the Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, Ky. by the backers of the venture, Brad and Kate Mead. David DeFazio is the other backer.

Add to the mix a couple who retired after 32 years from Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, Ky. who were looking for a new direction in their lives. That would be Steve and Donna Nally, complete with smooth Southern drawls.

He started at the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, as he began his way up the distillery ladder at Maker’s Mark. When he retired, he was the master distiller for the company.

“He did every job there was to do at the distillery from making whiskey to being a guard to shipping clerk, warehouse foreman and then becoming the master distiller in 1988,” Donna said.

She started as a tour guide then became head of marketing for the same company, managing the tour program and gift gallery and special events.

“We had a running joke between us,” Steve said. “I make it, she’s going to tell about it.”

“This is like a dream come true,” Donna said. “We’ve been here nine months and we love it.”

The Meads told the Nallys what they had planned and asked if they were interested. The Nallys talked about it, called them back and came out to see the area and went back to Kentucky.

“They sent a proposal, I emailed what it would take to get me out here,” he said. “They said, ‘Pack your bags, we got a deal.’”

The Meads purchased the Wilson Ranch in Kirby in 2006 with the plan to do more than raise cattle. They decided to make bourbon whiskey using grains grown in Wyoming.

The distillery is being erected on the property. Mead is the grandson of former Wyoming Governor Cliff Hanson.

“It’s going to be more like a micro distillery, very small,” Donna said. Five or six employees will be making and barreling the whiskey and putting it in the aging warehouses. The distillery will operate five days a week, making five barrels a day to begin with.

Nally has designed the distillery to be more operator friendly by making some slight adjustments, Donna said.

“By running the job, he recognized what needed to be done,” she said.

The grains they plan to use will be corn, wheat and malted barley. Vern Lofink will supply corn from Lucerne. The wheat will come from the Schlenker Farms near Meeteetse. ADM Malting Co. in Great Falls will supply the malted barley.

And don’t forget the water.

“The water, we are very happy to say, is coming from the Worland artesian wells,” she said. “We have spoken to John Joyce and have worked things out with him. When we start the distillery, we have to get an account number.

[WYCowboy]

Good deal. This is what we need in Wyoming.

[MrTitleist]

More booze? Yes, I wholeheartedly agree.