Frey Ranch releases American single malt

The Northern Nevada distillery has created a whiskey using grains that were grown and smoked on site.

In a spirits world where sustainability and grain to glass are in demand, Frey Ranch in Fallon, Nevada, is one step ahead. Owners Colby and Ashley Frey founded the distillery in 2006, growing grains on a 1,500-acre farm that’s been in the family for more than 150 years.

“To us, farming and distilling are both equally as important,” Colby Frey said. “In the wine industry, everybody talks about grapes and terroir – but nobody does that in the whiskey world. It’s always about barrels and finishing and different weird gimmicks.”

The Freys use the term ‘ground to glass’ for their whiskeys and, when in the tasting room, Ashley likes to point out that the ingredients used have never left their possession. That’s true for Frey Ranch’s newest expression, too: American Single Malt Smoked Whiskey. The grains were grown, harvested, smoked, milled and distilled on site. The whiskey is aged for seven years and six months and is bottled at 55% ABV.

Colby said he applies a farmer’s mentality to everything he does, meaning he has the confidence to build equipment himself – such as fashioning an old grain silo and fireplace into a smoker.

“It’s neat, because it’s from the ranch – like everything else that we do,” he said. The grains were malted drums, another example of the Freys keeping their process in-house rather than taking the more cost-effective route. “We wanted to have total control over the entire process.”

What’s more, Colby made his own peat on the farm, pressing decomposed plant matter in bread pans and dehydrating it.

Ingenuity is present in everything that the Freys do. Part of that is out of necessity, as the ranch is in Northern Nevada, where whiskey-making services aren’t as readily available.

“In Fallon, Nevada, you can’t just call somebody to do anything, so we do it,” Colby said. “We pay attention to every detail. Every time we do something, we try to do it the right way – not the easy way or the cheap way.”

Frey Ranch American Single Malt Smoked Whiskey is the first release in the company’s Smoked Series. It will be available online and at the distillery for US$59 for a 375ml bottle.

They have been able to increase production every year, said Colby, and they eventually want to be in all 50 states, but they aren’t going to sacrifice quality or their brand ethos to reach that milestone.

“I think today – more than ever – people care about what they’re putting in their bodies. That’s where we feel like we fit in well,” Colby says. “There’s more exciting things coming. So, this is a stepping stone – the next chapter of what that’s going to look like.”

There is currently a movement to set standards for the American single malt category.