Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 Review [In Depth]
Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 Details
Distillery: Wyoming Whiskey
Type & Region: Bourbon, Wyoming, USA
Alcohol: 52.5%
Composition: 68% corn, 20% wheat, 12% malted barley
Aged: 5 years
Color: 1.3/2.0 on the color scale (russet, muscat)
Price: $65-75
From the company website:
The snake river winds through the 310,000-acre park as the Tetons quickly rise above the valley floor. The indomitable 13,770 Grand Teton towers over one of the most important and inspiring natural environments on earth. This limited edition whiskey honors Grand Teton National Park and helps support the Grand Teton National Park Foundation in their continued efforts to preserve natural and cultural resources and enhance the national park experience for generations to come.
The Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No.3 – Snake River, Grand Teton National Park bottle is the third collectable limited edition release in an Annual National Series. This year’s subdues the more floral Notes of last year’s edition and plays to the granite ruggedness of the Tetons.Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 overview
If you’re reading this review, then I have a feeling that you already know about Wyoming Whiskey and like their whiskey. At least as of this review, Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 bourbon is the fourth bourbon of theirs that I’ve reviewed and the first limited release.
This particular release, just like the first release, celebrates Grand Teton National Park, and more specifically Snake River. I don’t know about you, but I’ve personally have never seen this release on shelves, so I suspect that it’s limited to certain regions of the US, excluding where I am in the DC area. It happens a lot, as many releases that aren’t national tend to skip Maryland, DC, and Virginia.
As a whole, these Wyoming Whiskey National Parks releases celebrate National Parks and their glory, and I believe that some of the proceeds of these bottles goes to the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service. The connection makes sense because Kirby, Wyoming isn’t that far away from Grand Teton National Park or Yellowstone, both about ~200-250 miles away. In fact, the second release highlighted Yellowstone National Park.
Wyoming Whiskey was founded in 2006 and is located in Kirby, Wyoming. They’ve been at it for a surprisingly long time, to the point that they’ve released a few 10 year old bourbons that they distilled themselves. 2006 was a totally different time, when bourbon was doing alright, but it wasn’t as raging hot as it’s been since 2019. You could argue that they are part of the old guard of craft whiskey.
At this point, Wyoming Whiskey has been doing this long enough that all their bourbons are at least 5 years old. Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 is 5 years old, just like the “standard” small batch bourbon, so that part isn’t unique to this limited release. What makes this release unique then is the barrel selection, which likely includes older barrels that are too good to go into the standard small batch bourbon. Remember, the 5 year age statement is just a minimum, so there are no limits on putting older bourbon into the blend.
Let’s find out if this bourbon is as grand as the Tetons in this Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 bourbon review.
Thank you to Wyoming Whiskey for providing this sample. All opinions are still my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 smell
The scents start with honey, dried cherry, dried licorice, an interesting mature oakiness, cinnamon, apricot, caramel nougat, vanilla, dried orange peel, lightly roasted coffee, and mint. There’s a really nice dark and mature oakiness and this distinct fresh vegetal note.
The mature oak isn’t a heavy roastiness, but a refined and developed oak that I get from one of the better 12+ year old bourbons. I’m not saying that is at that level, because it isn’t quite there, but the oakiness provides occasional moments of that thought.
The other thing I notice fairly quickly is that it’s not all that expressive or layered, but it’s still clear to me that it smells older than the 5 years indicated on the age statement.
After swirling and rest, there’s darker honey, dried apricot and orange peel, cherry, refined and mature oakiness that doesn’t come off as burnt or overbearing, cinnamon, clove, licorice, and a little caramel nougat and tobacco with well-controlled heat. The refined and shimmery oakiness is there, which is great.
All the great traits of a mature bourbon are there, but held under a thin film that blocks it from fully expressing itself. Overall, Wyoming Whiskey Grand Teton smells like a mature and developed 10+ year old bourbon that’s a bit too shy for its own good, hiding a lot of interesting character.
Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 taste and aftertaste
The flavors have caramel, dried apricot and cherry, licorice, vanilla extract, mature and refined oakiness, cinnamon, roasted coffee, caramel nougat, and a little tobacco and earthy pumpernickel.
For 5 years old, Wyoming Whiskey Grand Teton has the occasional and noticeable moments of feeling 10+ years old. The oak has an interesting mature toastiness, darkness, and tobacco-iness to it that bourbons under 12 years rarely have, except for maybe some Still Austin Bourbons such as Still Austin High Rye Bottled in Bond Bourbon.
Even though it’s clearly oaky, I wouldn’t quite state that it’s oak-foward. It’s evenly sweet, fruity, and oaky with a distinct overarching oakiness that coats the entire experience. On the other hand, the age and ABV do give it away with middle of the road viscosity and not much depth to anything besides the oak. The sweetness and fruitiness don’t have the right amount of roundness and depth to truly match the oak.
The second time around with “chewing”, I taste caramel, vanilla, dried apricot and cherry, red apple, roasted oak, cinnamon, licorice, licorice, and a little tobacco and caramel nougat. “Chewing” brings out the bigger pop of flavor and expands everything, including more dark sweetness, fruitiness, and mature oakiness that impress.
The finish leaves caramel, vanilla bean, dried orange peel and cherry, mature roasted oak, cinnamon, toasted coffee, and licorice with lasting toasted oak, coffee, and vanilla bean.
I don’t know how they did it, but Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 tastes far older than its age, closer to something like 10-12 years old. I wish that it were a bit more full and bold, but something about the sweetness and oak really work well together and stand out to me. This could use a bit more ABV to fill it out, but this is fantastic right now.
With the right amount of agitation, the flavors are layered, complex, and interesting in ways that I didn’t expect. This is so good.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3 Rating
Color me impressed with Wyoming Whiskey National Parks No. 3. It’s not impressive 100% of the time, as the scents have glimmers of promise hidden behind a veil that prevents it from being fully expressed, but the flavors don’t have the same problem as “chewing” unleashes the pop and zing to get it over the top to “Top Shelf”. For me at least, I over index on flavor more than anything else
I can’t definitely say how they intended to highlight the “ruggedness” of the Tetons, but I suspect that the elevated woodiness is part of that. I wish that they could have emphasized that “ruggedness” with more body and heft too, but even as-is there’s a lot to enjoy.
Sure, it’s still relatively young at 5 years old, but the actual drinking experience surpasses its stated age to deliver a refined, mature, and interesting experience that I appreciate.
So Wyoming Whiskey now has some compelling bourbons worth trying: this one and their Double Cask Bourbon.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
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Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
