After her death Oct. 22, Grizzly 399 was cremated and her ashes were scattered near Pilgrim Creek in Grand Teton National Park. Inspired by the popularity and impact of the world’s most famous bear, Wyoming Whiskey has created a limited-edition bourbon blend.
When the Cowboy State has something or someone significant to recognize, the company creates a limited-edition bourbon uniquely blended so the taste reflects the place or the person. The distillery’s whiskey makers did it with Integrity to honor former U.S. Senator Al Simpson, and now Queen of the Tetons for Grizzly 399.
“It was a fitting tribute for someone who's had so much impact,” said Brendan Cook, master blender at Wyoming Whiskey. “Grizzly 399 had such an impact on the world and the people of Wyoming, so it seemed like the best opportunity for us to do something for such an icon.”
Three Pillars
One of the best aspects of Cook's job is the creativity he employs when creating limited-edition batches of Wyoming Whiskey. When Wyoming Whiskey’s founder, David DeFazio, asked his team to blend a bourbon for Grizzly 399, it was an exciting challenge.
“What I like to do is find something that we can celebrate within the state, something that's true to us, and use our warehouse and maturation conditions to play up our three pillars of flavor to discover more of what Wyoming has to offer.”
Wyoming Whiskey’s three pillars of flavor are caramel/orange/vanilla, dark dried fruits, and spice. Cook said they work to ensure one or several of these foundational flavors are evident in every bottle and every sip of their products.
With Grizzly 399, Cook had to parse through the Wyoming Whiskey warehouse to select the best blends of bourbons to honor the legendary grizzly.
“It was important for me that we did something that would be a memorable sip,” he said. “Grizzly 399 had such an impact on so many people that came through the park, and everyone that's come by this distillery has a story to tell about her. What I wanted to do was have a dram that's fairly substantial with a lot of flavors going on.”
Bourbon Blend
Queen of the Tetons has an alcohol by volume of 49.5% and is 99 proof. Wyoming Whiskey said the limited-edition bourbon hits the nose with aromas of “honey and ripe field berries, layered with a gentle dusting of cinnamon spice.”
When the bourbon hits the palate, the dominant flavor is “white chocolate mocha, with notes of red fruit and rich brown sugar. The finish has “lingering hints of candied ginger and soft vanilla.”
To create this unique blend, Cook selected three bourbon barrels from different locations in the Wyoming Whiskey warehouses. The metal warehouses have thin walls and no insulation, so temperatures swing from 60 to 115 degrees from bottom to top.
“Every level in our warehouse has different flavor profiles,” Cook said. “We get more caramel, orange and vanilla notes on the first three rows. Then we start moving into the dark dried fruits, and then we're getting a lot of spice up at the top. You can put your hand up and feel that difference (in temperature.)”
As Wyoming Whiskey’s master blender, Cook knew how to find barrels with the right flavor proportions to embody Grizzly 399. He selected and blended three barrels from different parts of the warehouse to create Queen of the Tetons.
“For this Queen of the Tetons, we used barrels that were almost an even split across the warehouse to give us that perfect representation,” he said. “That's where we play with the proof as well. If we had brought it down, it would have been a little bit more citrus-forward, and it would have been too spicy if I had had it too high. We work to find that perfect balance to make sure we hit all the flavor profiles I envisioned.”
Sipping 399
Embodying Grizzly 399 in a “memorable sip” is no easy feat. When considering how to blend a bourdon to honor Grizzly 399, Cook reflected on her core character traits.
“I had an idea of where we wanted to go,” he said. I wanted a little bit of spice (to give) it a roughness and intensity. But Grizzly 399 was a bear, so we have some very good honey notes and some berry in there. These flavors were a combination of our three pillars, exploring each one quite distinctly.”
Cook described how Old Faithful, another limited-edition whiskey embodying Yellowstone’s most famous geyser, was blended to emulate its personality. The flavors selected to do this included deep red fruits, dark chocolate, orange peel, and many others.
“That product started very soft and smooth,” he said. “Very serene. Then, much like Old Faithful, it had an explosion of flavor that subsided, and the sweetness came back with just a whisper of spice. Once we had that, I felt it was the same experience as Old Faithful.”
After blending the bourbons and playing with proofs, the vindicating moment came when Cook himself experienced the memorable sip that has now been bottled as Queen of the Tetons.
“When we hit 99 proof on that first go-round, I was instantly like, ‘This makes sense. This resonates. This is impactful. I'm getting the flavors that I want.’ And for this product, that's exactly what we want,” he said.
Raise A Glass
Queen of the Tetons will be released in an “extremely limited” quantity, with fewer than 720 bottles. It will be available exclusively at the Wyoming Whiskey Shop in Kirby, Wyoming Whiskey’s Jackson Barrel House, and select retailers across Wyoming.
Wyoming Whiskey will auction off the 399th bottle of Queen of the Tetons. The proceeds will be donated to the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, along with a $20,000 donation from Wyoming Whiskey.
“Grizzly 399 earned her title as the Queen of the Tetons by placing her 28 years of life on display,” DeFazio said. “She was shrewd, which resulted in her resilience. And her resilience captivated us all.”
Cook said there will never be another release of Queen of the Tetons. All the bourbon in the barrels used to blend the limited-edition batch has been used, and it could never be recreated to capture the distinct flavor they decided on to honor Grizzly 399.
“When we hit this flavor profile. It was right,” he said. “That's our tribute, and I wouldn't want to dilute that by reneging on that quality and that impactful statement. That's just the reality of Wyoming Whiskey.”
Nevertheless, Cook encourages fans of Grizzly 399 and Wyoming Whiskey to try Queen of the Tetons. He described the blend as “an integrated experience” that brings out the best of the product while honoring its namesake.
“I think they'll find a very familiar honey and cinnamon on the nose, and then the real big hits of the red fruit and brown sugar, and the finish with that candied ginger and vanilla,” he said. “It's almost as perfect amalgamation of what you could get as our core.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
