Spirit of the rodeo

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Roundup Rodeo and Moses Lake Distillery will debut Spurstride, the rodeo’s official signature whiskey, tomorrow at Business After Hours at the Grant County Fairgrounds. 

“That’ll be the initial unveiling, and then the first place that’s going to carry it that you can get it in bottles is going to be the Moses Lake taproom,” said Moses Lake Distillery Owner Zach Hughes. “And then after that we’ll spread it out widely.” 

Spurstride will also be served at the Moses Lake Roundup’s Loading Chute during this year’s rodeo, which is Aug. 15-17. 

The Moses Lake Roundup isn’t the first rodeo to partner with a distiller for a custom spirit, explained Joe Ketterer, the member of the rodeo committee who spearheaded the partnership. He took inspiration from the Pendleton Roundup, which partnered with Hood River Distillers in 2003 to make Pendleton Whisky. (The spelling is different because Canadian whiskies like Pendleton, as well as Scotch and Japanese whiskies, are traditionally spelled without an “E” whereas most others are spelled with one.) 

“When you look at the scale of something like Pendleton Roundup, and their partnership with Hood River distillery … you look at that monumental project and what that's done for the brand, for the rodeo community, for Pendleton Roundup in general, it's incredible how that passive revenue has supported the growth of them and put them on the map,” Ketterer said. Pendleton Roundup General Manager Erika Patton helped Ketterer navigate the legal and marketing labyrinth involved in partnering with the distillery, he added. 

Spurstride is a wheated bourbon, Hughes said, similar to Moses Lake Distillery’s flagship wheated bourbon for which the distillery won the prestigious Double Platinum award from the American Spirits Council of Tasters this year. It’s not quite the same, though, Hughes said. 

“It’s a little bit lower proof; it’s an 80-proof instead of a 90,” he said. “So that’s going to allow it to appeal to the majority of whiskey drinkers. It’s a really well-rounded wheated bourbon; it’s nice and sweet and has a little bit of caramel notes as well.” 

The wheat level is also different, Hughes said. Moses Lake Distillery’s standard wheated bourbon is 45% wheat, whereas Spurstride is a blend of two bourbons, one 45% wheat and the other 21%. Because Moses Lake Distillery doesn’t have the infrastructure to produce it in sufficient quantity, Spurstride will be made in Indiana and Texas to Hughes’ recipe and specifications. 

The deal is a win-win for both the distillery and the rodeo, Ketterer said. Moses Lake Distillery gains marketing opportunities for Spurstride, which Hughes said will be the distillery’s core product, and the rodeo collects a royalty from any product, be it T-shirt, coffee mug or whiskey bottle, that bears its logo. 

“Obviously, the biggest selling point for us is that Zach Hughes and the Hughes family, they are local, he is a veteran,” Ketterer said. “His major product focus is on Spurstride, which benefits him as a small business owner. He's a good guy who makes a heck of a good product.” 

    Moses Lake Distillery and the Moses Lake Roundup Rodeo are preparing to unveil Spurstride, a wheated bourbon whiskey made specifically for the rodeo.