A six-hour drive and a two-hour wait in line were small prices to pay for a signed bottle of Romanowski Rye for a Colorado father-son duo whose plan was to nab a bottle of whiskey each for what they jokingly said would be the Nate Romanowski book-reading club.
Romanowski, for the uninitiated, is a sidekick and fan favorite in Wyoming (and New York Times bestselling) author C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett novels. He’s a falconer and modern-day gunslinger whose favorite drink is rye, and now the character has his own namesake whiskey at Pine Bluffs Distillery.
Tony Dix and his son Keegan were just two of the hundreds of fans who poured themselves into Pine Bluffs on Saturday to snag their very own bottles of Romanowski Rye. Both carried copies of Box’s latest Pickett novel, “Crossroads.”
Once they had their whiskey, the dynamic duo said they planned to display their whiskey for a little while first. Then, once their willpower had given way, they would have a reading and tasting party — sipping Romanowski Rye while savoring the words of the latest book.
“As you read the books, sometimes it starts out with Joe, sometimes it starts out with family members,” Tony said. “You’re always wondering, when is Nate coming into the picture? What does Nate have to do with this?”
“Yeah,” Keegan added. “How is Nate going to help or hinder Joe?”
“And will Nate show up at a good time or a bad time?” Tony said. “Because it’s been both, even though in the long run, you’re glad he’s there.”
Box thought Romanowski would just be a one-time cameo initially.
“At the time, I was not thinking he was going to be a super long-term character,” Box said. “I’ve always had a big interest in falconry. I’m not a falconer myself, but I spent a lot of time with them. I based him on a particular friend of mine, who actually came to the whiskey launch on Saturday, all the way from his ranch in Ten Sleep.”
Falconers all have a different outlook on life, Box said. And most of them are into heavy firearms, too.
“So it all kind of came together as a fictional takeoff of a real person, and then the character was so much fun to write, that he just kept popping up,” Box said. “Now he’s a mainstay.”
Romanowski’s Tasting Notes
Box, like his signature character, Joe Pickett, prefers bourbon, but Romanowski prefers rye. Thus it’s only logical that his namesake whiskey would be rye.
“Rye is famous for being a lot spicier than a bourbon or bourbon blend,” Box said. “It’s got a lot more kick to it, and we were joking before the bottles came out that the uncut should have something like, ‘Will this take your ears off?’ Because that’s something Nate Romanowksi is sort of famous for, getting bad guys and twisting their ears off.”
Fans could purchase the whiskey cut or uncut, the latter referring to whiskey taken straight from the barrel. The Dix’s said they planned to get a bottle of each.
Romanowski Rye starts out as Pine Bluffs Distilling’s standard rye recipe. The twist is in how this particular rye is selected. Box and a few of his friends come together for a tasting, and rate the barrels of whiskey to determine which ones will be in the final blend.
Although rye’s not typically Box’s favorite, this rye is an exception. Not least because Box was among the taste testers who chose the barrels in the blend.
“There were probably 10 of us who sat around, including [Wyoming First Lady] Jenny Gordon, to have tiny little tastes from all these different barrels that they’ve got,” Box said. “And we all rate them. And then Chad, who is kind of a magician, comes up with a way of blending the ones that we like the best into a single product. And it’s turned out great each time.”
Romanowski’s tasting notes for this whiskey would be spicy, fiery, unique and independent, Box said.
Pine Bluffs Distilling’s owner, Chad Brown, however, summed it up in true Romanowski style.
“There are people who will try my stuff and they’ll say, ‘Oh my gosh, I taste creme brulee,’ or ‘I taste freshly buttered toast.’ And I’m like, I just think it tastes good.”
Brown added that the person who Romanowski’s character is based on didn’t offer any fancy tasting notes either.
“He just said he liked it,” Brown said.
Tony and Keegan Dix also kept their tasting notes short and sweet.
Smooth and spicy, they told Cowboy State Daily.
Crazy-Long Lines
This year’s rye continues a collaboration between Box and Pine Bluffs Distilling that started last year with Joe Pickett Bourbon, and raised around $12,000 for Wyoming Hunger Initiative. This year’s Romanowski event was even bigger, raising $40,000 for Gordon’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative.
Glen Romig was among customers who were there for that particular Joe Pickett Bourbon event, which he said had a crazy long line, snaking outside of the distillery in Pine Bluffs. It took him hours to get through.
“It went through that way, down, and way back around,” Romig said, adding that this year’s line, though long, was short compared to that one.
Romig doesn’t drink whiskey and has only just started reading C.J. Box’s book. But he has friends who are big fans who live out of town, so he agreed to wait in line to buy a bottle for them and one for himself.
When it turned out he could only purchase one bottle, however, he decided he was keeping that bottle for himself, and he planned to do much the same with Romanowksi Rye, adding it to a growing collection of unopened whiskey bottles that he said numbers five so far.
Joe Pickett Bourbon did really well across the state, Brown added. All 84 of the cases Brown sold to Wyoming Liquor Division last year were sold out within 12 minutes.
The overall amount for that release was just four barrels. Romanowksi Rye will be a little more available, with 10 barrels in the overall release.
But they are still, nonetheless going quickly, Brown said.
“We’re still learning about the right amount for the specialty and collectible products,” he said.
Some of the liquor stores, meanwhile, were among those waiting in line to have their bottles signed by Box, which means those who missed the event might still be able to find a signed bottle.
Chance Encounter
The concept itself came together by chance, much as Romanowksi barreled his way into the Joe Pickett series.
Brown kept bumping into Box at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, where Box emcees the Team Wyoming breakfast.
“Big fan of you, big fan of Joe Pickett,” Brown recalls telling Box. “Joe Pickett drinks bourbon. I make bourbon. Maybe we should work together.”
Eventually, Box made his way out to Pine Bluffs Distilling to talk about the idea, and taste some of the whiskey.
“I said, ‘Hey, if we’re going to use a character from your books, I know we’re going to owe you some money,’” Brown said. “And he was like, ‘I really appreciate that. Could those funds just go to a charity of my choosing?’”
That would be fantastic, Brown told him.
“So that’s how the funds go to the Hunger Initiative,” Brown said. “That was his idea, and I think it’s fantastic.”
A Plot Twist
Brown already has an idea for the third liquor in the series, a liquor that will veer into a brand-new direction.
“My wife’s favorite character is Marybeth Pickett,” Brown said. “She loves the way Marybeth raises her family. She loves the way Marybeth helps Joe behind the scenes. She just loves everything about Marybeth. And she’s like, Chad, we have to do Marybeth.”
Brown has already planted the seed for that idea with Box. If he agrees, Brown already has an idea for a plan that will make the whiskey stand out as its own, new blend.
“My goal, if we do Marybeth next year, I’ve got some barrels where everything will be at least five years old,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, he has bottles that are already aging for the eventual return of Joe Pickett Bourbon as well.
“I should have enough there for everything to be at least six years old on the bourbon,” Brown said.
That will make the future Joe Pickett a more complex, deeper character than before.
Meanwhile, there’s Romanowski Rye, which plays no second fiddle. It’s a smooth, spicy whiskey worthy of its outlaw namesake, raising money for a cause said outlaw might just grudgingly approve of — so long as no one gets between him and his own bottle of it.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
