Sips & Sites & Bites

There’s something quietly thrilling about a whiskey that isn’t meant to be tamed.

Wyoming Whiskey’s newest release, Barrel Strength Bourbon (#6429), is exactly that kind of bottle … untouched, unfiltered, and unapologetically bold. Drawn from just one or two standout barrels resting in the distillery’s Kirby, Wyoming warehouses, this release is less about volume and more about reverence. In a good year, fewer than 500 bottles make it out into the world, which already tells you everything you need to know about its intentions.

What makes this bourbon special isn’t just the proof … though at 124 proof (62% ABV), it certainly commands attention. It’s the fact that Master Blender Brendan Cook only pulls barrels that are simply too good to blend away. These are the rare finds discovered while sampling across Wyoming Whiskey’s eight rickhouses, barrels with a distinct personality that demand to stand on their own.

Like all Wyoming Whiskey expressions, Barrel Strength starts at the ground level. Every drop is handcrafted from grain to glass, using a mash bill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley, and aged a minimum of five years in newly charred oak. But it’s Wyoming’s dramatic climate … especially the daily temperature swings in the Big Horn Basin … that does the real heavy lifting. Those extremes force the barrels to breathe deeply, pulling intense flavor from the oak and creating the kind of variation that makes barrel-proof whiskey so compelling.

In the glass, it pours a deep copper edging into mahogany—rich and inviting before you even take a sip. The nose leans warm and familiar, with notes of honey, apricot, vanilla, and toasted almond. On the palate, things turn indulgent: cinnamon, graham wafer, caramel, and powdered sugar all show up, layered and full without feeling chaotic. The finish lingers with coffee cake, crème brûlée, cinnamon, and caramel, a slow fade that reminds you this whiskey isn’t in a hurry.

This is bourbon at its most honest. No dilution. No smoothing out the edges. Just whiskey as it comes from the barrel, shaped by time, oak, and Wyoming’s unforgiving weather. It’s a release for people who like to sit with a pour, respect its power, and maybe add a few drops of water … not because it needs it, but because the experience evolves when you do.

Wyoming Whiskey Barrel Strength isn’t designed to be chased or collected for bragging rights. It’s designed to be drunk, thoughtfully and responsibly, as a reminder of what bourbon can be when nothing gets in the way.

Sometimes, less intervention makes the loudest statement.