Wyoming Whiskey Drops Pair of Barrel Strength Bourbons

Wyoming Whiskey dropped two barrel strength bourbon releases. (Photo: Wyoming Whiskey)

Wyoming Whiskey announced on Nov. 15 the release of two barrel strength expressions: #5540 and #5440. Both bourbons were aged at the brand’s warehouses in Kirby, Wyoming for 10 years. Each bourbon has a suggested retail price of $299.99.

Wyoming Whiskey Barrel Strength bourbons #5540 and #5440 come from a mashbill of 68% corn, 20% wheat and 12% malted barley. The whiskeys are available in California, Colorado, Georgia and Florida.

Wyoming Barrel Strength Bourbon Whiskey Tasting Notes, Via the Brand

Nose: Plum pudding with apricot jam, dark chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Taste: The palate is full of cherry cobbler, with buttery cinnamon biscuits and chocolate-covered orange peels coupled with marzipan and honey butter.

Finish: Long with candied citrus and dark fruit, interlaced with molasses and concludes in a “Wyoming bear hug.”

In early November, Wyoming Whiskey released a bourbon to pay tribute to Grizzly 399, a bear that lived in the Grand Teton National Park and was killed in a car accident. She was 7 feet tall and weighed almost 400 pounds, and was considered the oldest reproducing grizzly bear in the region.

On Oct. 22, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that she was hit by a passing vehicle, and Yellowstone’s Tour Guide, Jack Bayles, expressed to The New York Times that “There will be other bears, but there will never be another 399.”

The bourbon release was named “Queen of the Tetons,” and just 720 bottles were released. Each bottle had an ABV of 49.5%. Wyoming Whiskey promised a $20,000 donation to the Grand Teton National Park Foundation. The whiskey brand auctioned off the 399th bottle in the batch to help with wildlife conservation.