Lolo Creek Distillery sits right on Highway 12 in Lolo, Montana, about 15 minutes southwest of Missoula in the Bitterroot Valley. Founded by Tom and Becky Mouat in 2011, this family operation started when Tom, a former pharmaceutical scientist, decided to apply his chemistry background to something more fun than drug development. They opened their doors in a converted industrial building, transforming the space into Montana’s first licensed distillery since Prohibition. The Mouats focus on small-batch whiskey production, making bourbon, rye, and wheat whiskey using traditional methods and Montana grains. The journey wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Tom spent years perfecting his recipes and navigating Montana’s licensing requirements, which hadn’t been updated since before Prohibition ended. The couple literally helped write the modern playbook for craft distilling in Montana, working with state officials to establish regulations that other distilleries now follow. Tom handles the distillation while Becky manages the business side, and they’ve built everything from scratch – including learning how to cooper their own barrels for aging experiments. Visitors find a working distillery that doesn’t put on airs. The production area houses their custom-built copper still, and you can watch Tom working the equipment during production days. The tasting room feels more like a neighbor’s garage bar than a polished tourist destination, which somehow makes the whole experience more authentic. They’re not trying to be the biggest operation in Montana – they’re focused on making whiskey the way they think it should be made, one small batch at a time.