Prairie Wolf
Oklahoma Craft Spirits
While walking around your local liquor store or admiring your favorite back bar, you may have noticed Prairie Wolf products with their eye-catching colors and elegant design complete with prohibition-era font and the gentle swirls of a watercolor painting. This update in packaging is not just cosmetic; it represents a changing of the guard and a new direction for Prairie Wolf.
Prairie Wolf was founded in Guthrie, Oklahoma in 2013 by the Merritt family and quickly filled a gap in craft spirits in this part of the country. Blake and Hunter Merritt ran the operation and launched three flagship spirits: Prairie Wolf Vodka, Loyal Gin, and Prairie Dark, the company’s take on a coffee liqueur. The spirits quickly gained popularity among local bars, consumers, and even received national acclaim from publications such as Wine Enthusiast.
In 2016, the Merritts started a new venture, the OKC Cellar, a members-only wine cellar and club, and after managing both businesses, they decided to focus all of their passions and effort into their cellar project and to sell Prairie Wolf.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Stranger and Drew Tekell of St. Mark’s Chop Room and En Croute were enjoying a relaxing drink after a long night’s service at St. Mark’s. Tekell, a sommelier and former bartender, was talking about one of his favorite spirits, rum, and a lightbulb went off. Stranger recognized the passion Tekell had for spirits and asked if he’d ever considered owning a distillery. The decision was made. The business partners then set out to learn everything they needed to know about starting a distillery in Oklahoma.
Being long-time friends with the Merritt family, Tekell and Stranger sat down with them to discuss their idea and learn from the experiences of founding Prairie Wolf, unaware of the Merritts’ intent to sell. What started as two enthusiastic business owners looking for direction in their new venture ended with an established brand changing hands.
In February of 2018, Tekell and Stranger took over Prairie Wolf along with partners Steven Sands and Erik Tekell, Drew’s brother and the new Prairie Wolf master distiller. The team quickly put their own mark on the company by launching new branding in early May, unifying the brand, and reducing packaging costs, therefore making their products more affordable for consumers.
Prairie Wolf will continue to operate out of their headquarters in Guthrie and produce Prairie Wolf Vodka, Loyal Gin, and Prairie Dark, but there is one significant change around the corner: Obahoshe Rum.
Obahoshe means “wolf” in Seminole and is the perfect name to represent Prairie Wolf’s inland-style rum. This type of rum traces its history back to 1764 when the Sugar Act prevented rum from being imported to the colonies and placed a tax on molasses, making it more expensive and impacting rum margins. Colonists began using sorghum molasses to produce rum and a new style was born.
Prairie Wolf’s Obahoshe Rum will derive from local ingredients, using Seminole Nation Barking Water Sorghum from Wewoka, Oklahoma. Erik Tekell even went so far as to locate a Colonial American yeast strain in a Canadian cryo chamber. The strain dates to around the time that inland-style rum was created and perfectly exemplifies the team’s dedication to the rum’s authenticity.
The unaged silver Obahoshe Rum is scheduled for an early September release and will eventually be followed by a barrel-aged expression after the spirit rests for a year or two. Prairie Wolf is also working on a fantastic Oklahoma spin on a spiced rum, using local honey and sassafras instead of the standard vanilla. Look for that in early 2019.
As Prairie Wolf’s product line expands under its new ownership, so will its market presence. Drew Tekell and team have already taken Prairie Wolf to Illinois, Indiana, and Washington state and will soon be launching in Florida and California. Look for this brand to not only grow in popularity around the country, but also to provide a fantastic example of Oklahoma passion and creativity while doing so.
> You can “Follow the Wolf” as it travels the country via their website, prairiewolfspirits.com, as well as Prairie Wolf Spirits on Facebook and @pwsprits on Instagram and Twitter.
