Written by RICH MANNING Photos provided by FREY RANCH
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A GENUINE NEVADA PARADISE
t’s 3 p.m. when I exit the Reno airport, just in time to see my hotel shuttle leave the pick-up area. The smoke and haze from the horrific forest fires blazing nearby in California makes the shuttle pick-up area look like 7 a.m. on a foggy Pacific coastline. I hop aboard the next shuttle that arrives some 20 minutes later and peer out at the thick, translucent shroud blanketing the self-proclaimed “biggest little city in the world” as we drive through the streets. The next day, I arrive at Frey Ranch in Fallon, Nevada, about an hour east of Reno, and experience a different type of surrealism that’s considerably more pleasant. Tall rows of corn stalks flank the driveway. Generous swaths of
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grass stretch out in front of rustic buildings. Vibrant green fields of rye nearly kiss the horizon. There’s no smoke from the fires, but there’s also no dusty desert bleakness, either. It’s unfair to call it an oasis because it’s better than an oasis. There is whiskey made here. The award-winning bourbon and rye produced by co-founder Colby Frey and master distiller Russel Wedlake make the previous day’s unpleasantness disappear, but their exceptional taste is just the endgame. Frey Ranch’s bottles are the final result of a letter-perfect encapsulation of self-sufficiency, sustainability, and community.
Frey Ranch Delivers Award-winning Craft Whiskey from an Unexpected Place
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