Wander Folk Spirits

Guthrie, Oklahoma's WanderFolk Spirits distills the Same Old Moses line of bourbon and rye, a modern successor to Oklahoma's first legal distillery, still working out of the same historic downtown building where it started in 2012.

History & Heritage

WanderFolk Spirits traces its roots to 2012, when brothers David and Hunter Merritt opened Prairie Wolf Spirits in Guthrie, Oklahoma, widely credited as the first legal distillery to operate in the state. In 2018, a new ownership group, chef Jonathon Stranger, brothers Drew and Erik Tekell, and Steven Sands, purchased the operation and began rebuilding it as WanderFolk Spirits, expanding the original site at 124 E Oklahoma Ave into a full craft spirits destination while keeping Prairie Wolf alive as one of its house brands. The distillery leaned on that infrastructure during the early COVID-19 pandemic, shifting production to hand sanitizer: more than 10 million bottles made, with 14,000 gallons donated to state agencies, tribal nations, fire departments, and law enforcement across Oklahoma.

The name change did not erase the history. Same Old Moses, WanderFolk's flagship whiskey brand, is named for the first legal saloon in Oklahoma Territory, a direct nod to Guthrie's frontier-era drinking culture. In September 2023 the company opened The Wander Inn, a spirits lounge and tasting room next door to the distillery, growing out of an earlier partnership at Mack & Ike's. In August 2024, WanderFolk partnered with University of Oklahoma Athletics to release Only One Vodka and Two Ponies Bourbon as the program's official craft spirits.

The Whiskey

Same Old Moses covers both bourbon and rye, built on a mix of in-house distillation and blending. WanderFolk's own copy describes Triple Pot Still Bourbon (65% corn, 22% wheat, 11% rye, 2% malted barley) and Triple Pot Still Rye (63% rye, 37% corn) as distilled from Oklahoma and Texas grain and aged at least four and three years respectively in new American white oak at 115 proof, run through a 120 L Christian Carl copper pot hybrid still and a 1,800 L Specific Mechanical hybrid still equipped with a whiskey head, a 4-tray column, two 20-tray columns, and a gin basket. Batch releases in the line lean on blending: Same Old Moses Batch 3 combines Texas and Kentucky straight bourbons, each aged four years before double-barreling in new American white oak, finished an additional year in a secondary barrel with a lighter toast and char.

From that base, WanderFolk builds an unusually wide finishing program. Same Old Moses Four Grain Bourbon PX Sherry Cask Finished spends 14 months in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks after four years in oak. Same Old Moses Tawny Port Finished Bourbon and Same Old Moses Ruby Port Finished Bourbon are each double-barreled in aged port casks. On the rye side, Same Old Moses Rye Double Barreled finishes in ex-bourbon American oak, while Same Old Moses Double Barreled Rye Amarone Finished and Same Old Moses Double Barreled Rye Sauternes each spend six additional months in their namesake wine casks after three years in oak. WanderFolk also runs a contract distilling operation out of the same facility, offering recipe development, production, bottling, and distribution services to other spirits brands.

Why It Matters

WanderFolk's finishing program has drawn consistent recognition. The line took gold, silver, and bronze across the Ruby Port, Tawny Port, and Double-Barreled expressions at the 2022 ADI Awards, plus double gold and gold at the 2022 SIP Awards. In 2023, Same Old Moses Bourbon and Same Old Moses PX Sherry Bourbon each won gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. For those who appreciate good whiskey, WanderFolk represents a distillery that has kept Oklahoma's original craft distilling lineage alive while pushing an aggressive, cask-driven finishing style that spans port, sherry, and dessert-wine barrels rarely seen together from a single producer.

Visiting the Distillery

WanderFolk offers guided tours and tastings at its Guthrie location on Fridays at 4 pm and Saturdays at 2 pm and 4 pm. The distillery walk-about is open to all ages and ADA accessible; spirit tasting requires valid ID and legal drinking age. The Wander Inn, the distillery's adjoining spirits lounge, offers additional tasting access on-site.