The University of Wyoming has become the latest higher education institution to lend its branding to a school-sponsored liquor.
UW Athletics has announced it will launch a new Cowboy-themed craft bourbon called Pretty Good Horse in partnership with the state of Wyoming.
Producing the booze will be Casper-based Backwards Distilling, which told Cowboy State Daily it inked a five-year contract with the university to produce the spirit.
Its initial batch will produce 1,800 bottles and will be available in liquor stores across Wyoming with a shipping option for fans and school alumni nationwide.
Backwards Distilling will debut the bourbon at a launch party Aug. 22, just days before the Cowboys’ football team is set to kick off its 2025 season against the University of Akron.
Pretty Good Horse also will be available in club and suite areas at school athletic events, but won’t be available on UW’s academic campus, the university told Cowboy State Daily.
Proceeds from Pretty Good Horse bourbon will not contribute to UW’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) fund, but sales will uphold the school’s branding division, which supports programs like the rodeo team and marching band.
Deep Cowboy State Roots
The straight bourbon whiskey is designed to include several elements that pay homage to Wyoming’s rich state history.
The booze’s name, Pretty Good Horse, references lyrics in the University of Wyoming’s fight song, "Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” which was rewritten for the UW marching band by former assistant professor Francis Edwin Stroup in 1961.
The bottle’s brown-and-gold label also features the school’s colors and its bucking horse and rider logo, which have become emblematic of the state of Wyoming.
86 Proof
Crafting the spirit required seven types of barrels, which is more than the typical four barrels used to produce most of Backwards Distilling’s offerings.
The barrels are all between 5 and 9 years old and are expected to impart a uniquely Wyoming flavor to the bourbon.
Backwards Distilling cofounder Amber Pollock, an alumna of UW who studied music education, said even the exact alcohol percentage was chosen intentionally.
“We decided to put it as 86 proof, because the university was founded in 1886,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “That’s kind of a fun little tie-in.”
Because both of Pollock’s parents also attended the university, she explained that the project holds a special significance for her family.
Pollock added that she views the branded bourbon as a creative way to tell the story of UW’s iconic horse logo, Steamboat, to a broader audience beyond the walls of the university.
“It’s such an iconic part of the state, the opportunity that our family got being able to attend college close to home and being able to move into our career fields,” she said of her alma mater. “A lot of people in Wyoming have a special connection to the university and our family is the same.”
All Wyoming
Pollock said Backwards Distilling leveraged its experience in previous liquor partnerships
with the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps of Casper and the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra when responding to the university’s statewide request for proposals (RFP).
This made her business a prime candidate to land a contract with UW, said senior associate athletic director for trademark and licensing Tracy Richardson.
“I just think it’s really important that we wanted a Wyoming company to be the partner, the collaborator, and that we open it up to everyone,” Richardson told Cowboy State Daily. “They did a really good job with the RFP and the presentation and the product and the design we think is really fantastic.”
Dustin Neal, who designed the bottle with The BARK Firm, said he incorporated imaging from both the university and Backwards Distillery.
“The concept started with the idea of a Western-style bandana,” Neal wrote in an email. “I asked myself, ‘How do I take Backwards and the University of Wyoming and make it feel like they had a baby?’
“That led to the ragtime cowboy idea. Brown and gold, bandana patterns, grit and heritage. I used elements that represent both brands and brought them together in a way that feels true to who they are.”
The result, he said, is something that feels true to the identity of the Cowboy State.
“Specialty whiskey and commemorative pieces go hand in hand,” Neal added. “I’ve seen a lot of brand collaborations over the years, and this one really stands out. It has a strong Wyoming identity and a deep connection to UW and the Steamboat legacy.
“It’s the kind of product people will want to have in their homes, give as a gift, and hold onto as a meaningful piece of UW pride.”
Not The First Rodeo
The new bourbon initiative comes on the heels of Wyoming Golden Ale, a beer collaboration between the University of Wyoming and Black Tooth Brewing Co.
That partnership, launched in 2023, also prominently featured university branding across two unique cans that rotate seasonally.
The brew currently boasts a 3.59-stars rating out of five stars across 488 reviews on beer rating service Untappd.
Richardson said he hopes the bourbon partnership will build on the revenue generation and brand promotion aspects of the prior beer venture.
His proposal to create a school-sponsored bourbon was an easy sell to the UW Board of Trustees and the Secretary of State’s Office, which were required to sign off on the partnership.
Richardson said he was inspired to craft a bourbon by South Carolina’s Furman University, which launched its FU All the Time bourbon in 2023. He recalled learning of the liquor after encountering school representatives at a licensing conference.
For the time being, UW has no plans for future alcohol offerings, though Richardson said the potential success of Pretty Good Horse could lead to similar partnerships down the road.
“We’re just excited to get it out there and see what people think about it,” he said of the bourbon.
Intercollegiate Imbibing
The University of Wyoming joins a growing number of schools that offer their own line of branded liquor products.
Advertisements at Rutgers University athletic events tout Eric LeGrand Whiskey, a collaboration named after a former defensive lineman at the school who was paralyzed while making a tackle.
Other powerhouse athletic departments at places like Ohio State University, Notre Dame and University of Tennessee have announced their own branded liquors involving vodka, whiskey and even moonshine.
More schools are also beginning to reverse policies that prohibit alcohol sales at athletic events. UW has offered alcohol to fans at football and basketball events since 2017, though other schools are only just beginning to dabble in on-campus sales.
Schools like Clemson and Notre Dame will start offering alcohol sales this year as other major campuses, such as the University of Michigan, have reported millions in alcohol sales in 2024.
The changes come amid shifting tides in collegiate athletics as schools compete for dominance in the NIL landscape. Alcohol sales are proving popular with fans and an easy way for schools to bring in extra cash.
