Each year since 2021, Wyoming Whiskey has released a special edition bottle to highlight America’s national parks, and naturally, particularly those in the state of Wyoming.

The company recently announced the release of its fourth limited edition whiskey in the brand’s annual National Parks Series: the National Parks No. 4 Straight Bourbon Whiskey—Mammoth Hot Springs. This bourbon honors Yellowstone National Park and aims to support its preservation efforts through a collaboration with the official nonprofit partner, Yellowstone Forever.

“The straight bourbon whiskey celebrates Yellowstone, a place of natural wonder boasting half of the world’s known hydrothermal features, including Mammoth Hot Springs,” says David DeFazio, Wyoming Whiskey’s co-founder and National Brand Ambassador in a Zoom interview. “This ever-changing system of travertine terraces has been formed over thousands of years, and the National Parks No. 4 release is a tribute to the park’s unique and evolving landscape.”

Whitney Brunner, partnerships manager at Yellowstone Forever Partnerships Manager, emphasizes the importance of this collaboration, which has so far resulted in $150,000 in donations to support conservation initiatives within the park.

“The work is multi-faceted, scientific and dependent on philanthropic funding,” says Brunner.

Climate change presents serious challenges for the American whiskey industry, impacting weather patterns and the availability of raw materials. Rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall affect the growth of essential grains like corn and barley, potentially leading to shortages and higher costs. Additionally, warmer conditions can speed up the aging process in barrels, altering flavor profiles and reducing the ideal maturation time. As these environmental changes affect the landscape and local wildlife, whiskey producers may need to adapt by sourcing grains from new regions or adjusting aging techniques to maintain product consistency.

The already extreme climate of Wyoming plays a crucial role in the maturation process of Wyoming Whiskey’s products. During the summer, temperature swings of over 55 degrees within a single day influence the maturation of each cask. The barrels breathe in and out dramatically during these temperature fluctuations, allowing the whiskey to interact more intensely with the wood. This process shapes the final character of the spirit, making it uniquely reflective of Wyoming’s climate.

“Wyoming’s environment is tough on the people, but good for the whiskey,” DeFazio says.

One of the key projects funded through this partnership is the restoration of Yellowstone’s native fish species, such as the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. Brunner explains that native fish are vital to the park’s ecosystem, serving as a crucial food source for many species, including bears, otters and birds of prey.

Brendan Cook, Wyoming Whiskey’s master blender, draws a parallel between the formation of the park’s natural terraces and the bourbon aging process.

“Mammoth Hot Springs, with its tiered formations and layers of mineral deposits, mirrors the aging process of bourbon, where time and nature intricately shape the final character,” Cook says.

The complex interaction between spirit, wood and the surrounding environment during the aging process contributes to the bourbon’s distinct flavor profile. Like the hot springs, the bourbon evolves over time, developing layers of flavor as it matures. Aged for a minimum of five years, the National Parks No. 4 whiskey offers a blend of flavors such as vanilla, candied ginger, crème caramel and honeysuckle.

Over 70 barrels were carefully selected for the National Parks No. 4 release, with each barrel chosen from specific areas within the warehouse to create layers of flavor. The team’s attention to detail in the blending process ensures that each bottle of National Parks No. 4 bourbon captures the essence of Wyoming’s natural landscape and the park it honors.

In addition to the Mammoth Hot Springs release, Wyoming Whiskey has also launched a new expression called Old Faithful. This marks the first-ever release of a 10-year wheated bourbon from Wyoming Whiskey. DeFazio explains that while previous 10-year editions included rye bourbon, this release pays homage to the vision of the founders and the original master distiller, who aimed to create “the next great wheated bourbon.”

Looking ahead, Wyoming Whiskey intends to continue its focus on conservation efforts through future projects in the National Parks Series. DeFazio emphasizes the importance of these releases in shaping the brand’s legacy.

“National Parks No. 4 reflects Wyoming Whiskey’s commitment to the people, efforts and foundations that help protect and maintain our national parks,” he says.

In a trench meant for a sewer line, a Wyoming ranch family found a massive, nearly spherical boulder that was so out of place, it left them bursting with questions.

Scott Coale and his son William, 18, were digging a trench recently on the Hogg Ranch near Meeteetse, a historic homestead that had been in Scott’s family for over 100 years.

A stubborn and unexpected obstacle blocked the ditch they were digging, interrupting their work.

They found they’d struck a huge boulder that by all appearances, shouldn’t have been there.

“We’d been in putting in a sewer line to a cabin,” Scott said. “There’s no rocks here at all. We were having smooth sailing, and then, all of a sudden, the backhoe struggles.”

William got out of the skid steer he was using to backfill and was surprised by what he found.

The Discovery

“I asked him how big it was because it was in the middle of our ditch to run the sewer line,” Scott said. “He tells me that it is as big as the side-by-side. At first, we’re just kind of joking, but then I realize I don’t know if I can get it out.”

Scott called a friend with a backhoe and they tackled the boulder.

“I had some daylight left and got on the side of it and started digging,” he said. “Next thing I know, I got it out the hole with the backhoe. It was this big old round rock. It just amazed us that it was so perfectly round.”

They set the rock to the side and resumed their chores, although distracted as they tried to figure out what they had found. The boulder is about 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

“It’s just weird,” Scott said. “The geology of Wyoming is a great thing. You never know what you’re going to find.”

The family was especially surprised to find the giant boulder because the area it was unearthed in is devoid of rocks.

“I’ve never personally seen anything like that,” William said. “We were just digging and then bam, there is this big old boulder in the ground that’s not normally shaped.”

What On Earth Had They Found?

Unsure of what they had unearthed, Scott’s wife Diane posted the find on the Facebook page Wyoming Rockhounder. She asked if they should try to open it and see what was inside.

There was much debate, but the consensus from other rock enthusiasts was that it’s a sandstone concretion.

“I thought it was interesting that people commented about maybe it was a geode or what might be in it,” Diane said. “So, we did a little bit of research and the geodes are found in limestone rather than sandstone.

“The likelihood of us cutting it up and finding a geode is probably pretty minimal, so we kind of want to leave it the way it is.”

That is a good idea, said geologist and owner of Ava’s Silver and Rock Shop in Thermopolis.

Ava Cole has more than 50 years of experience in the field and is familiar with this type of rock.

“There’s quite a few places around Wyoming that have them,” Cole said. “Sometimes there are iron stains in the middle of them, but they’re not worth cutting into — unless you want to sharpen your blade.”

Just A Rock

Concretions are commonly misunderstood geologic structures, according to the Paleontological Research Institution.

Often mistaken for fossil eggs, turtle shells or bones, they are not fossils. They’re rocks. This common geologic phenomenon occurs in almost all types of sedimentary rock, including sandstones, shales, siltstones and limestones.

There may be fossils surrounding the concretions if it’s in shale but not inside the rock itself.

“The concretions that you find in the shale may have fossils in the shale or crystals,” Cole said. “The concretions themselves are just sandstone. There are no fossils in them. The fossils are not in the sandstone layers, they’re in the shale layers.”

These concretions form inside sediments before they harden into rocks in continuous layers around a nucleus such as a shell or pebble.

Rates of this formation vary, but can sometimes be relatively rapid over as short a period as months to years, the Paleontological Research Institution reports.

“There’s a void in the ground,” Cole said. “It’s like a magnetism to them that attracts different minerals until the sand forms tightly around them. There’s some kind of quartz in it, too. It’s microscopic, but they’re not hollow or anything like that. Not like a geode.”

What Do You Do With It?

“I’ve collected them before and sold them, but don’t get much money out of them,” Cole said. “Even if the family wanted to, they probably couldn’t get anybody to cut it because it is a pretty good-sized rock and you’d have to have a big diamond saw to cut it.

“Anything that big [when] you cut it open, it would be futile because what’s on the outside is mostly on the inside.”

Her suggestion is to let it just sit around in the yard – since it’s always nice to have a round circle rock hanging around.

That is exactly what the Coales plan to do.

“It’s going to be a yard ornament,” Scott said. “I want to be able to showcase it in our front yard. I think it’s cool.” 

Collecting Your Own Yard Ornament

These concretions are found throughout the Cowboy State and can be collected even on BLM land.

“A lot of people pick them up,” Cole said. “Between Worland and Ten Sleep, on Rattlesnake Ridge, there’s a whole bunch of them, all different sizes and shapes since they’re not always round. They can be like a peanut or anything like that.”

The Coale family are already avid rockhounds. They have interesting formations on their property that they explore and one area on the historic ranch is dubbed Death Valley because, according to William, it looks like the badlands.

That was why they were even more surprised to find this rock in an area where they normally would not be looking. 

“I’m the rock person in the family,” Diane said. “We’d always go find petrified wood and stuff ever since I was a kid but I’m pretty excited about this rock.”

This plain, nearly perfectly round boulder has been added to their family collection as the centerpiece.

Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The UND women’s basketball team went into Christmas break by committing a season-high 29 turnovers in a 73-41 loss at Wyoming on Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Hawks, who were outscored 17-3 in the fourth quarter, dropped to 5-8 overall with two Division I wins.

UND ranks last in the Summit League in turnovers at 17.7 per game. The team is also last in the Summit in assists with 314.

Wyoming, which improved to 6-6, also beat South Dakota by 34 earlier this season.

UND was led by Grafton native Walker Demers, who finished with 13 points. No other Hawk ended with more than six points.

Grand Forks freshman point guard Jocelyn Schiller and sophomore Nevaeh Ferrara Horne both added six points.

Coming off a season-high 25 points against Mayville State, Kiera Pemberton was held to four points on just 2-for-3 shooting against Wyoming. She had six turnovers.

Pemberton, a sophomore from Langley, B.C., had scored in double figures in every other UND game this season.

The Hawks trailed by five after the first quarter and 13 at halftime.

UND cut the lead as close as 10 in the third quarter but trailed by 18 by the end of the frame.

UND was just 2-for-13 from 3-point range with Demers 0-for-4 and reserve Sydney Piekny 1-for-5.

Wyoming committed just 10 turnovers and had 17 assists. Three players finished in double figures, led by Tess Barnes with 16 points.

UND only shot four free throws — all by Demers, who was 3-for-4.

UND starts the post-Christmas schedule on the road, at Omaha on Jan. 2 and at Kansas City on Jan. 4.

The Hawks return home Jan. 9 against Oral Roberts and Jan. 11 against Denver.

Staff reports and local scoreboards from the Grand Forks Herald Sports desk.