How WildRye Distilling Became the Most Decorated Distillery in the State
There's a distillery tucked into Bozeman, Montana, that most people outside the Northern Rockies haven't heard of yet. That's about to change. WildRye Distilling just walked away from one of the most competitive regional spirits competitions in the country with seven medals — more than any other Montana distillery has ever taken home from that event in its 14-year history.
The competition in question is SIP Magazine's Best of the Northwest, an annual blind-tasting contest that pulls in craft spirits from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia. The judges aren't amateurs, either. The panel is made up of mixologists, beverage buyers, distributors, spirit writers, and working distillers — people who taste spirits for a living and have strong opinions about what's good and what isn't. Getting one medal from that group is an achievement. Getting seven in a single competition is something else entirely.
A Sweep That Nobody Else in Montana Has Pulled Off
Of those seven medals, two were the highest honor the competition gives out: Platinum "Best in Show." WildRye's Five Drops Montana Straight Bourbon and its Apple Pie Liqueur both took home that top distinction. To put that in perspective, most distilleries spend years chasing a single Platinum award. WildRye picked up two in one night.
The rest of the haul wasn't exactly modest, either. The Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Barrel Rye Whiskey and the EichenKirsch Flathead Cherry Brandy each earned Double-Gold medals. Gold medals went to the Metcalf American Single-Malt Whiskey and the Boss Tweed Old Tom Gin. The Queen Bee Honey Gin rounded things out with a Silver.
That's two Platinum, two Double-Gold, two Gold, and one Silver across seven different products — a range that shows this isn't a one-trick operation. WildRye is producing serious spirits across multiple categories, from straight bourbon to gin to fruit brandy, and getting recognized for all of them at the same time.
The Numbers Behind the Name
Seven medals from a single competition pushed WildRye's 2025 total to 17 awards for the year. Their overall collection now stands at more than 30 national and regional medals. For a small-batch craft distillery operating out of Bozeman — a city better known for fly fishing, ski culture, and proximity to Yellowstone than for its whiskey scene — those numbers are genuinely hard to ignore.
Sten Anderson, who leads the operation, didn't frame the recognition as a marketing victory. "These awards represent years of dedication to our craft and commitment to showcasing what Montana terroir can bring to exceptional spirits," he said. "Every bottle we produce reflects the abundant landscapes and independent spirit of Montana. Having that recognized on this scale is incredibly meaningful to our team."
That word "terroir" is worth pausing on. It's a concept usually attached to wine — the idea that the land itself, the soil and the climate and the water, contributes something to the final product that can't be replicated elsewhere. Applying that thinking to whiskey and gin and brandy says something about how seriously WildRye takes the idea that place matters in distilling, not just process.
What Actually Goes Into the Bottle
The sourcing story at WildRye is a big part of what separates it from a lot of craft operations. The distillery works with locally grown Montana ingredients throughout its lineup. Sweet corn, barley, Flathead cherries, honey, juniper, and huckleberries all make appearances across the product range.
The Flathead cherries deserve a specific mention. The Flathead Valley in northwestern Montana has a long history of cherry growing, and those cherries have a distinct flavor profile shaped by the high-altitude climate of the region. Using them as the base for the EichenKirsch Flathead Cherry Brandy — which earned a Double-Gold — is the kind of decision that roots a product in a specific place in a way that's hard to fake.
The honey showing up in the Queen Bee Honey Gin is another example of that same philosophy. Montana produces a significant amount of wildflower honey, and incorporating it into a gin creates something that tastes like it couldn't have come from anywhere else.
Anderson put it plainly: "We're not just making spirits, we're telling Montana's story in every bottle. These awards validate our approach of sourcing the best local ingredients and applying traditional distilling methods with a creative Montana twist."
The Bourbon That's Turning Heads
Among the award-winning lineup, the Five Drops Montana Straight Bourbon stands out as a marquee product. Straight bourbon is a heavily regulated category — the spirit has to meet strict legal requirements around grain composition, aging, and production methods to carry that designation. Earning a Platinum "Best in Show" in that category, competing against distilleries from across the entire Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, signals that WildRye isn't cutting corners on the product that American whiskey drinkers care most about.
The Bottled-in-Bond designation on the Bourbon Barrel Rye Whiskey is another signal worth noting. Bottled-in-Bond is one of the oldest and most demanding standards in American whiskey law — the spirit must be the product of a single distillery, from a single distilling season, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof. Distilleries that pursue that designation are making a statement about their commitment to traditional standards, not just chasing whatever category happens to be trending.
Bozeman Is Becoming a Destination for Serious Spirits
Montana now has more than 40 licensed distilleries operating across the state, and the industry has been building steadily over the last decade. But WildRye's performance at the regional level puts Bozeman specifically on the map in a way the state's broader craft spirits growth hasn't quite managed yet.
The tasting room is located at 111 E. Oak Street in Bozeman and is open daily from noon to 8 p.m. For anyone who can't make the trip to Montana, the award-winning bottles are available through select Montana retailers and on the distillery's website for nationwide shipping.
The picture that emerges is of a distillery that has been doing serious work for years, building a lineup of products grounded in a specific place and a specific set of traditional methods, and finally getting the kind of industry recognition that reflects that effort. Seven medals, two Platinum Best in Show awards, 17 accolades in a single year, more than 30 overall — by any measure, WildRye Distilling has become something genuine in the American craft spirits landscape.
Montana has always had a strong identity around the land, the raw materials it produces, and the independent streak of the people who work it. WildRye is making the argument, one bottle at a time, that those same qualities can show up in a glass of bourbon or a pour of cherry brandy. The judges in blind-tasting rooms across the Northwest are agreeing with them.
