BNK_Web_Story_01

BRAVERY.
ADVENTURE.
DANGER.
VICTORY.
AND THAT WAS JUST TUESDAY.

A TALE WHOSE TIME HAS COME.

The life of Maria Izabella Magdolna Horony—also known as Catherine Elder, and later feared and revered throughout the rough and tumble Old West as the inimitable, one and only Big Nose Kate—is a story for the ages. 

“No better friend, no worse enemy” is how Kate was known throughout the danger-crossed byways and rowdy saloons back then. But she never really got her due. We have created an extraordinary whiskey to honor and celebrate Kate’s extraordinary life, and that of unsung heroes and heroines everywhere.

BNK_Web_Story_002_alt
BNK_Web_Story_04

A Hungarian physician’s daughter turned immigrant and orphan, she was drawn to the wild American West through chance, rebellion, opportunity, and a deep curiosity in people, places, and ideas. A strong, industrious, and fiercely independent self-made woman generations ahead of her time, Kate ran with Doc Holliday, butted horns with Wyatt Earp and his posse, stole horses, ran gambling rackets, presided over watering holes of all kinds, kicked ass, and took names.  

An entrepreneur to the core, “Your business is my business” was one of Kate’s many catch phrases (now memorialized for auld lang syne on our label). Some historians argue that her nickname “Big Nose” was sparked by her constantly “sticking her nose” in other people’s needs and wants, exploring opportunity.

BNK_Web_Story_05
BNK_Web_Story_07
BNK_Web_Story_03

Kate’s life fabric was colorful and complex, and any account of her life is incomplete without mention of her time as a “sporting gal” (both as a madame and a provider).  Kate, like many women of the era, was often confronted with difficult decisions to make in order to remain self-sufficient.  Most accounts of her trysts in the trade begin in 1869 and end in 1877, when she joins Doc Holliday in Tombstone, and appears to never work as a nymph du pave again. Kate guarded her reputation for her full 90 years of life, never waning in her earnestness to present as her true self, encompassing all of her experiences.

Rest assured, Kate was much more than a mere supporting actor to the Docs and the Wyatts and the cowboys and the rangers on the mainstage back then, as a number of historians unfairly suggest. She may have been more interesting and compelling than all of ‘em. And also more formidable.

BNK_Web_Story_06

Kate’s indomitable spirit is awakened in our whiskey today: a brave and adventurous blend just like our protagonist herself. Perhaps her time is now. At long last.  

AND OUT OF THIS NEWFOUND PERSPECTIVE, PERHAPS NEW CHAPTERS WILL BE WRITTEN, TOGETHER.

Cheers.

FOUNDERS

MEL, KEVIN & PAUL

AND ESTEEMED PARTNERS

CALEY, NIKI, MELISSA & BEN

BNK_Web_Story_09

BRAVERY.
ADVENTURE.
DANGER.
VICTORY.
AND THAT WAS JUST TUESDAY.

BNK_Web_Story_01

A TALE WHOSE TIME HAS COME.

The life of Maria Izabella Magdolna Horony—also known as Catherine Elder, and later feared and revered throughout the rough and tumble Old West as the inimitable, one and only Big Nose Kate—is a story for the ages. 

“No better friend, no worse enemy” is how Kate was known throughout the danger-crossed byways and rowdy saloons back then. But she never really got her due. We have created an extraordinary whiskey to honor and celebrate Kate’s extraordinary life, and that of unsung heroes and heroines everywhere.

BNK_Web_Story_001_Mobile

A Hungarian aristocrat’s daughter turned immigrant and orphan, she was drawn to the wild American West through chance, rebellion, opportunity, and a deep curiosity in people, places, and ideas. A strong, industrious, and fiercely independent self-made woman generations ahead of her time, Kate ran with Doc Holliday, butted horns with Wyatt Earp and his posse, stole horses, ran gambling rackets, presided over watering holes of all kinds, kicked ass, and took names. 

An entrepreneur to the core, “Your business is my business” was one of Kate’s many catch phrases (now memorialized for auld lang syne on our label). Some historians argue that her nickname “Big Nose” was sparked by her constantly “sticking her nose” in other people’s needs and wants, exploring opportunity.

BNK_Web_Story_002_Mobile

Kate’s life fabric was colorful and complex, and any account of her life is incomplete without mention of her time as a “sporting gal” (both as a madame and a provider).  Kate, like many women of the era, was often confronted with difficult decisions to make in order to remain self-sufficient.  Most accounts of her trysts in the trade begin in 1869 and end in 1877, when she joins Doc Holliday in Tombstone, and appears to never work as a nymph du pave again. Kate guarded her reputation for her full 90 years of life, never waning in her earnestness to present as her true self, encompassing all of her experiences.

Rest assured, Kate was much more than a mere supporting actor to the Docs and the Wyatts and the cowboys and the rangers on the mainstage back then, as a number of historians unfairly suggest. She may have been more interesting and compelling than all of ‘em. And also more formidable.

BNK_Web_Story_003_Mobile

Kate’s indomitable spirit is awakened in our whiskey today: a brave and adventurous blend just like our protagonist herself. Perhaps her time is now. At long last.

AND OUT OF THIS NEWFOUND PERSPECTIVE, PERHAPS NEW CHAPTERS WILL BE WRITTEN, TOGETHER.

Cheers

FOUNDERS

MEL, KEVIN, PAUL

AND ESTEEMED PARTNERS

CALEY, NIKKI, MELISSA & BEN 

BIG NOSE BRANDS, INC. SANTA FE © 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS & CONDITIONS

BNK_Web_Logo_Footer

BIG NOSE BRANDS, INC. SANTA FE
© 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS & CONDITIONS

Update cookies preferences