Wildrye Distilling sits in downtown Bozeman at 111 East Oak Street, where founders John McKee and Mike Uhrich turned their home-brewing passion into Montana’s grain-to-glass whiskey operation. McKee, who spent years perfecting recipes in his garage, partnered with Uhrich in 2016 to launch what would become one of the state’s most dedicated small-batch operations. They opened their doors in 2018 after retrofitting a commercial space with a custom 250-gallon copper pot still and fermentation tanks designed specifically for their high-altitude production methods. The story started when McKee, frustrated by the lack of quality American whiskey that matched his home-brewing standards, decided to apply the same meticulous approach to distilling. Uhrich brought business expertise from his background in Montana agriculture, and together they spent two years perfecting their mash bills and aging techniques before going commercial. Their philosophy centers on using Montana-grown grains whenever possible and letting the natural environment—with its dramatic temperature swings and dry air—influence their aging process in ways that can’t be replicated elsewhere. Visitors walk into a working distillery where production happens in full view, not a polished tasting room with a token still in the corner. The space feels more like a craftsman’s workshop than a tourist destination, with the actual fermentation tanks, milling equipment, and bottling station all part of the experience. You can smell the grain mash and hear the still running, which gives you a real sense of what small-batch distilling actually involves rather than just the romanticized version.