Tasting notes

nose

Sappy pine log and cedar shavings over dried apple and maple, with warm pencil eraser, a touch of modeling clay and an herb-flecked banana bread note

palate

Dry and medium-bodied; spice arrives first, then green apple taffy, buttery caramel and light tobacco, with a lemongrass edge and soft tropical fruit underneath

finish

Moderate in length; molasses and anise candy hold on with a peanut-candy sweetness and a dusty grain-sack note, drying toward leather and wood as it fades

Mash bill

100% rye. The grain is winter rye grown on the Montgomery family farm outside Heath, Montana, along Big Spring Creek, a spring-fed trout stream that also irrigates the fields. The distillery mills, ferments and distills the rye itself, and an all-rye mash puts the grain's spice, dried apple and leather character at the center of the whiskey.

Awards

• Gold — USA Spirits Ratings 2020
• Silver — Beverage Testing Institute (Tastings.com) 2023

Why it's craft

Every grain in this straight rye is winter rye from the Montgomery family's own farm near Heath, Montana, and the distillery mills, ferments, distills and bottles it in Missoula. Montgomery Distillery is a family-owned producer founded in 2012 by Ryan and Jenny Montgomery, with Ryan's parents growing the grain. The rye spends at least three years in heavy-char casks after coming off a single German-built combination pot-column still.