KIRBY — Hundreds of 750 milliliter bottles of Wyoming Whiskey have pre-sold, including 500 bottles at one Jackson liquor store. On Dec. 1, Wyoming Whiskey will go on sale at retailers after years of waiting while the first batch aged.

Wyoming Whiskey is an unusual-for-Wyoming investment by Brad and Kate Mead and David Defazio, all of Jackson. Their company's sour corn-mash whiskey will be 88 proof, or 44 percent alcohol. The corn, wheat, barley and water are all from Wyoming. And not just any corn will do.

"It has to be the variety that matures in 92 days," distiller Steve Nally said.

The owners recruited Nally and his wife, Donna, to establish the distillery and handle the day-to-day operations. Steve had a successful 42-year career in the whiskey business, many of those years with Maker's Mark, a popular brand of bourbon. Nally and his wife were excited to move to Wyoming and start the distillery from scratch.

Despite the Maker's Mark influence Wyoming Whiskey's sour mash will be a bit sweeter and smoother than Maker's Mark.

"There won't be anything as good on the market when Wyoming Whiskey arrives on dealer's shelves," Steve Nally said.

The company plans to bottle 8,000 cases of Wyoming Whiskey with 6 bottles to a case. Some will be held in reserve so there's a good supply that will last until October 2013 when the next batch will be ready. The Wyoming product will command a premium, Defazio said, costing between $39-$49 a bottle.

Watch for more on Wyoming Whiskey in the November print edition of Wyoming Business Report.

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