CODY - Wyoming's newest ethanol plant is scheduled to open next year in Hot Springs County, but it will produce only about 50,000 gallons annually, and will age its product in charred oak barrels.

Wyoming Whiskey, a start-up company in Kirby, is scheduled to begin construction next month on a distillery in the town of 80, located between Thermopolis and Worland.

The company has yet to decide on a name for the whiskey, and its plans for how and when to market the product will depend on how the whiskey ages and when it is ready for release, said Jackson-based attorney David DeFazio.

DeFazio said Teton County ranchers and attorneys Brad and Kate Mead, who are husband and wife, asked him to become a partner in the venture, aimed at making a whiskey that is strongly identified with Wyoming and the West.

"So, two Kentucky Bourbon Festivals later, here we are. It's been an awesome experience," DeFazio said with a laugh, obviously relishing the research component of his work.

The term whiskey covers a broad category of spirits distilled from grain mash.

DeFazio said Wyoming Whiskey's product will probably be marketed as whiskey, but will be most similar in production process and taste to bourbon, which, by definition, must use mostly corn and be aged in new, charred oak barrels.

The company has consulted with well-known distillers, including Lincoln Henderson, who was a master distiller and maturation expert for Woodford Reserve bourbon, DeFazio said.

Steve Malley, a master distiller for Maker's Mark bourbon for 15 years, has been hired to oversee daily operations in Kirby, and will move to Wyoming from Kentucky early next year, DeFazio said.

Kentucky distilleries tout their limestone aquifers as a key to making great bourbon, and DeFazio said Worland has just such an aquifer that will provide the water for his whiskey.

"We've been working with the Wyoming Business Council and the town of Kirby to get a Business Ready Community grant that would bring the water line to Kirby," he said.

The pipeline stops about four miles short of Kirby, and will take at least two years to complete. Until then, the company will truck water to Kirby, DeFazio said.

Brad Mead's brother, Matt Mead, was formerly the U.S. attorney for Wyoming and now serves as a Business Council member.

DeFazio said Matt Mead has no stake in the whiskey project, and the grant application was in the works before Mead was appointed to the council.

Kirby residents have long lobbied to be connected to the Worland water pipeline, as it will offer better, cheaper water than the treated river water provided by a pipeline from Thermopolis, said Brenda Flinn, clerk-treasurer for Kirby.

"They are talking about five or six full-time positions, and maybe up to 38 part-time jobs including growers, truck drivers and all that," Flinn said.

A public hearing earlier this month on a plan to annex the 3-acre distillery site into Kirby's town limits drew no objections, she said. Annexation of the adjacent land is expected to be completed Dec. 10.

"We're not hearing any negative feedback. I think it's going to be awesome," Flinn said.

DeFazio said the same distilling equipment used to produce whiskey can also make vodka or tequila, two other products the company may later consider making.

But for now, the focus will be on whiskey, possibly using the Mead family cattle brand and Wyoming ties to market the product.

Brad Mead's grandfather, Cliff Hansen, was a Wyoming governor and U.S. senator.

The company expects to use about 12,000 bushels of grain - mainly corn, but also malted barley and rye or wheat - to produce 1,000 barrels of whiskey, which translates to roughly 250,000 bottles after one year of maturation.

Some whiskey may be released within a year or two of distillation, while a small number of select barrels that experience the most intense maturation might be held back and aged for four or five years and released as reserve bottles, DeFazio said.

"We're going to release a premium product, and our goal all along is to produce a value-added Wyoming product that the agricultural growers can be proud of," he said.