Quality craft bourbon is growing in popularity across the country, and distilleries are popping up everywhere. You could say they’re the breweries of the next generation, opening their doors to the public and offering tours and tastings.

Wyoming has its own namesake whiskey, produced at the oldest distillery in the state. Although it’s relatively new compared to other distilleries across the country, it is the first one to open its doors since prohibition. Plus, it puts out the smoothest bourbon this side of Kentucky.

The story of Wyoming Whiskey is an interesting one.
m01229/Flickr
The last distillery in the state closed down during the cruel years of prohibition.
Archives of Ontario/C.H.J. Snider fonds/ville.montreal.qc.ca - archives de l' Ontario/Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons
Even once prohibition ended, it would be another 85 years before anyone ventured into the bourbon business. Finally, in 2009, Wyoming Whiskey opened its doors.
Don H/TripAdvisor
The company wasn't an offshoot of a giant beverage conglomerate, and it wasn't founded by someone from a long line of whiskey-makers. It actually started as a natural progression from farming and ranching.
U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr
The Mead family had been working the land in the Big Horn Basin since the late 1890s, raising cattle and their own hay.
WildEarth Guardians/Flickr
The family started Wyoming Whiskey with the intention of producing a superior quality product using locally sourced ingredients.
The tiny town of Kirby near one of the Mead ranches was selected as a location...
Wyoming Whiskey

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...and an award-winning brand was born.
Wyoming Whiskey/TripAdvisor
State pride is obvious - it's in the name - but the ties to Wyoming go deeper than that.
Tina Flater/Google Maps
Wyoming Whiskey is made by Wyomingites using ingredients from Wyoming, everything from the grains...
Rian McMillan/Flickr
...to the water comes from the Cowboy State.
Darryl Kenyon/Flickr
It's been said that the bourbon distilled here and aged in white oak barrels is the most "Wyoming" product ever to come out of the state.
Wyoming Whiskey/TripAdvisor
But the proof isn't just on the label. Wyoming Whiskey consistently ranks in the top 10 in the entire country.
Wyoming Whiskey/Facebook
The distillery puts out four signature whiskeys including a small-batch, a single-barrel bourbon, barrel-strength, and the Outryder, a distinct American whiskey crafted using two uniquely different grain mixtures.

Have you toured the distillery in Kirby? What did you find most interesting about the experience?

The address for the Kirby Distillery in Wyoming is: 100 S Nelson St, Kirby, WY 82430

It seems the Cowboy State really knows how to do adult beverages right. When you’re finished with your tour of Wyoming Whiskey, why not drop in at the very best brewery in the state?

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100 S Nelson St, Kirby, WY 82430, USA