WildRye Distilling’s award-winning products bottle the essence of Montana
Since becoming a state in 1889, Montana has had many slogans referencing its expansive environment and natural wonders: The Sky’s the Limit, The Last Best Place, Big Sky Country. But I feel the latter should be altered to Big Spirit Country, due to the state’s increasing number of delicious distilleries. And Bozeman’s WildRye Distilling is staking a claim — thanks to a bucket of awards — as the leader of the Montana distilling pack.
The award list for WildRye includes a whole bushel from the recent 14th Sip Best of the Northwest Spirits awards: two platinum (bourbon and fruit liqueur), two double golds (rye and brandy), two golds (single-malt whiskey and specialty gin), and a silver (also specialty gin). Wowza! But making an array of spirits and liqueurs at this high of a level doesn’t happen overnight — WildRye traces its history back to 2013. And like most beautifully bottled items, that history starts in the ground.
Specifically, the ground of a farm outside of Hamilton, Montana. The farm has been in the family of one of WildRye’s co-founders, Dr. Phil Sullivan (aka, the “Whiskey Doctor,” which is an amazing alias) for many generations. The whole idea of WildRye, as told to us by Sten Anderson, managing partner, CFO, and also one of the founders, grew from a desire to make a “truly Montana bourbon using sweet corn.”
Farmers, if not Anderson himself, will be quick to tell you that sweet corn is the type you’d buy at your local grocery store or farmer’s market, whereas field corn is used for traditional ethanol, livestock feed and processed foods. WildRye uses sweet corn from the beginning as the base for many of their products — produce grown on Sullivan’s family’s farm.
Making a bourbon and other products that is reflective of the land itself — and the people populating it — is a big ask. But WildRye’s lush Five Drops Bourbon delivers exquisitely. Made with organic, non-GMO sweet corn from the farm, central Montana malted barley, and fresh mountain stream water, this bourbon reflects WildRye’s commitment to sourcing ingredients locally. “This minimizes the environmental footprint of our business, ensures the highest quality ingredients by way of deep relationships with the growers, and celebrates the abundance of incredible ingredients that can be found right here in Montana,” says Anderson.
This dedication plays out across WildRye’s portfolio, a grouping of products that has rapidly and imaginatively expanded. But even as the WildRye family has grown, they’ve stuck to those original North Stars: local, natural, Montanan. Following that philosophy isn’t easy, of course, as it equals a ton of time spent sourcing. To prove that point, Anderson ticks off a list: “Barley comes from Conrad (north of Great Falls), cherries from Flathead Lake, huckleberries from the hills west of Missoula, Bozeman honey, rye and beet sugar.”
The list of spirits and liqueurs WildRye is creating with that bountiful produce reflects their creative, trailblazing nature. It started with Five Drops, and covers whiskey aplenty — ryes, single-malts, specialty releases like port-barreled bourbon and others — which they’re devoted to. But that’s just the beginning. As Anderson says, they “want to provide unique experiences for a variety of palates and continue to expand the tools for our mixologists to create exceptional cocktails in the tasting room.”
To ensure the unique experiences, the WildRye family branches out to contain eau de vieux, Old Tom style gins (regular, cucumber and honey), vodkas (some flavored with delights like huckleberries and cherries), white and dark rums, an apple pie liqueur — even a tonic syrup. The one thing each shares, Anderson says, is that they were born via “inspiration from Montana’s natural abundance.” Even the distillery name echoes this ethos, coming from a native bunch grass called Great Basin Wildrye. “It’s very distinct, can grow up to 6-feet tall, and can be found all across Montana, if you know what to look for,” says Anderson.
Looking at that scrumptiously long list of WildRye products (and it’s expanding — they’re currently working on a double-oak variation of the flagship Five Drops Bourbon, for one) is bound to make you thirsty. And the variety means that whether you’ve just finished hiking the Highline Trail, writing a place-inspired poem in Missoula, or fly-fishing the Bighorn, WildRye has a product sure to provide the perfect after-activity sipping; a spirit or liqueur as Montanan as any of the places mentioned. So, don’t just dream of wide-open skies — give the WildRye big spirits country a try. I think you’ll find drinking local just tastes better. No matter what your slogan is.
Take a Drink of WildRye
WildRye’s range of spirits and liqueurs may lean whiskey (for those true whiskey devotees, don’t miss the limited-edition Confluence Collection), but their imagination has taken the distillery into many bottled directions. Every spirit shares a Montana connection and, as Anderson told us, “don’t use any concentrates, additives or fillers.” To help navigate the field, we’re highlighting four choices below. We’ve added a suggested cocktail for each, too, in case you feel like mixing.
Five Drops Montana Straight Bourbon
$58 | 750ml
In some ways the lead jewel in the WildRye crown, this bourbon won platinum at Sip Magazine’s 14th Annual Best of Spirits Awards (among many other awards). It embodies WildRye’s Montana-made philosophy in a bottle, crafted from sweet corn grown on family farms, central Montana malted barley and pure mountain water. Lush corn and caramel on the nose, with a rich grain, oak, vanilla, cinnamon flavor ensure you’ll enjoy it around a wilderness campfire or in the snazziest home bar. Try it straight first, surely, but it also makes a mean Manhattan.
Ingredients
2½ ounces WildRye Five Drops Montana Straight Bourbon
½ ounce Carpano Antica Italian vermouth
Dash Scrappy’s Aromatic bitters
Cherry (from Montana, if possible), for garnish
Directions
Fill a mixing glass or cocktail shaker halfway with cracked ice. Add the bourbon, vermouth and bitters. Stir well. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherry.
Boss Tweed Old Tom Gin
$33 | 750ml
Named for Montana’s Boss Tweed Gold Mine in the Tobacco Root Mountains, this Sip gold-medal winning Old Tom–style gin will have you dreaming not just of golden hills, but of English gin palaces from the 18th century, a time when a wooden black cat (Old Tom) sign outside of a pub promised gin delight inside. Its juniper and citrus nature is rounded out with secret botanicals, oak and a wink of sweetness. Use it for a swell Tom Collins — Old Tom gin being the key in that drink since Harry Johnson’s 1882 New and Improved Bartender’s Manual.
Ingredients
2 ounces Boss Tweed Old Tom Gin
1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
¾ ounce simple syrup
Chilled club soda
Lemon slice and a cherry (Luxardo, if you aren’t able to pluck one in Montana), for garnish
Directions
Fill a cocktail shaker three-quarters full with ice cubes. Add the Old Tom gin, lemon juice and syrup. Shake well. Add some ice cubes to a Collins glass. Strain the mix through a fine strainer into the glass. Top nearly to the rim with soda. Stir carefully. Garnish with the cherry speared to the slice.
EichenKirsch Flathead Cherry Brandy
$164 | 750ml
Kirsch, the traditionally unaged European eau de vieux, is all grown up in WildRye’s EichenKirsch, which is German for “Oaken Cherry.” A double gold winner made with Flathead Lake Lambert cherries blended with Bozeman beet sugar, this spirit is distilled and then aged for four years in oak barrels. That aging gives it a different type of depth than many fruit brandies. It still delivers hints of cherry, but augmented by wood notes and spices from the oak. Intriguingly unique — and delicious. Don’t let the sugar fool you, however, it’s a straight spirit, and carries a 120-proof umph, making it ideal for an Old Fashioned.
Ingredients
1 sugar cube (or the same amount of non-cubed sugar)
2 dashes Scrappy’s Orleans bitters
2½ ounces EichenKirsch Flathead Cherry Brandy
Lemon twist
Directions
Add the sugar to an Old Fashioned glass and top with the bitters. Using a muddler or wooden spoon, muddle the sugar and bitters until they’re well mixed and spread around the bottom of the glass. Add 2 or 3 large ice cubes to the glass. Pour in the EichenKirsch delicately over the ice. Squeeze the twist of lemon over, and then drop it in. Give the drink a quick stir. Top with a cherry if you’re really lonely.
Montana Flathead Cherry Vodka
$31 | 750ml
Sipping this after the EichenKirsch shows off WildRye’s inventiveness perfectly. Both use cherries from Montana’s Flathead Valley, but the results take you to completely different places. Here, the cherry is more forward, slightly sweeter, more summery, if that passes muster. The taste comes from a corn-based vodka that is simply infused with cherries — and a little fresh mountain spring water. It goes down memorably as a first kiss in the below drink I’m calling The Flathead Spritz.
Ingredients
1½ ounces Montana Flathead Cherry Vodka
½ ounce simple syrup (if you feel up for making a cherry simple syrup, go for it)
4 ounces chilled prosecco (or other sparkling wine)
Chilled club soda
Strawberry slice, for garnish
Directions
Fill a balloon-style wine glass halfway full with ice cubes. Add the vodka and simple syrup and give it a quick stir. Add prosecco, and give it another gentle stir. Top with a splash of soda and garnish with the strawberry. (You could also go cherry garnish, but I like the fruit duo-ing.)
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