Christy Lattin
The whiskey flowed, and the tasting room was filled on Saturday, July 11, as customers eagerly lined up for the special edition whiskey at Fallon’s Frey Ranch Distillery in honor of the University of Nevada Reno’s 150th anniversary. The local distillery, co-founded by husband-and-wife team Colby and Ashley Frey, both alumni of UNR, created a unique bottle to commemorate the university’s sesquicentennial featuring a limited-edition blue label.
“Ashley and I met while attending the University of Nevada, so collaborating with them to create this limited-edition, commemorative silver and blue label holds a special place in our hearts,” said Colby Frey. “Supporting our local community while giving back to the institutions and organizations that have supported us as we met, married, started a family, and grown as small business owners is incredibly important to us. We are beyond excited to share these bottles with our fellow Wolf Pack alumni and fans.”
Members of the Nevada Athletics Program visited in January and tasted several single barrels, deciding upon two distinct single barrels to be the special Nevada Wolf Pack picks. The first single barrel was released in the spring, and the second barrel, the Wolf Pack Single Barrel Bourbon #2334, is the first special edition release.
“This special edition bottle is the first time we’ve rebranded,” said Cheyenne Young, a member of the Frey Ranch Distillery team. “And a portion of the proceeds will go towards UNR’s Excellence Fund.”
Members from the Nevada Athletics Program, including Athletic Director Stephanie Rempe, were on hand on Saturday to taste the whiskey and tour the impressive distillery. Unfortunately, the Wolfie mascot and the UNR cheerleaders were unable to make the trip as planned, but many customers arrived sporting their favorite Wolf Pack gear.
"Partnering with Colby and Ashley has been an incredible journey, blending the rich tradition of whiskey and Wolf Pack Athletics with the vibrant spirit of innovation," said Rempe. "We are immensely grateful for the Freys' unwavering support for the athletics program and the community, which has been pivotal in making this collaboration a resounding success."
Young said the special edition blue label whiskey is a limited run of 10,000 bottles. Bottles are available at local Nevada retailers now and will be available on the Frey Ranch Distillery e-commerce website starting August 16.
Frey Ranch Distillery is a unique brand in the whiskey universe in that 100% of the grains used are grown, harvested, distilled, and bottled on-site, making it a rare farm-to-glass whiskey operation.
While Ashley hosting in the tasting room and greeting customers, Colby attended to ranch business that could not wait, namely irrigating. As he fueled up a tractor, he mused at how fortunate they’d been in their business venture as a distillery.
“We have a lot of community support,” he said. “We’re really lucky.”
Visitors enjoyed tours throughout the afternoon, and The Rusty Canteen provided special drink mixes for the event.
Bottles of the limited-edition bourbon can be purchased at shop.freyranch.com or local retailers in Northern Nevada.
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