Checking in with Missoula’s forthcoming Montgomery Distillery

Met up and had a pint yesterday with Ryan Montgomery who is starting Montgomery Distillery in Missoula, which is scheduled to open at the end of summer. Some of you may have heard about it in this Missoulian article. If not, Montgomery Distillery will be crafting vodka, gin and, in about three years, whiskey, at 139 E. Main St.

Montgomery recently moved to Missoula from Seattle and before that Malta (not the town in Montana), the tiny country located in the Mediterranean Sea. He’s an investment consultant of sorts and has worked in various countries in Africa. Montgomery was born in Florence (the town in Montana), and grew up in Lewistown.

Originally, Montgomery wanted to open a brewery, but having noticed the proliferation of those ventures, decided to take a different route. He studied distilling in Scotland and Spokane to get a handle on what is to become his new passion.

Montgomery and his wife have a hearing before the Missoula City Council in a few weeks for some zoning permits, and plan to begin construction over the next couple of months.

I’m definitely excited to see how this turns out, he sure seems to have the business sense to make it work.

Stay tuned for future updates.

- Matt Pritchard