Bozeman’s WildRye Named Best Craft Whiskey Distillery in the Country

October 22, 2026

A blind tasting is a humbling exercise. No label, no backstory, no handsome bottle to lean on. A panel of experts tastes what’s in the glass and nothing else. Last year, WildRye Distilling in Bozeman sent seven spirits into SIP Magazine’s 14th Annual Best of the Northwest Spirits Awards and watched all seven come back with medals, including two Platinums for Five Drops Montana Straight Bourbon and the Apple Pie Liqueur.

That sweep set in motion the news that landed this morning. WildRye has been voted the No. 1 Best Craft Whiskey Distillery in the country in the 2026 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

The path from one competition to the other ran through a writer. Spirits author A.J. Rathbun covered the SIP results and followed up with a February 2026 feature on WildRye called “Call of the Wild.” Months later, when USA TODAY assembled its expert panel to choose nominees for Best Craft Whiskey, Rathbun was on it, and according to SIP publisher Kristin Bacon, he put WildRye on the ballot. Readers across the country voted over several weeks. Bozeman came out on top.

“WildRye’s dedication to bottling the essence of Montana has led to them making some seriously delicious whiskey,” Rathbun said of the win. “Winning first in the USA Today Best Craft Whiskey Distilleries competition is certainly well-deserved and hopefully has more whiskey lovers discovering WildRye’s tasty tipples.”

For a distillery that opened in 2013 with what Managing Partner Sten Anderson calls “a simple question: what would a real Montana bourbon taste like,” the result reads as a kind of answer. “Thirteen years later, the results from a blind tasting put us on the ballot, and whiskey drinkers across the country voted us to the top,” Anderson said. “That’s about as honest an answer as we could ask for.”

The Montana-grown story is what Head Distiller Alan Edmondson keeps coming back to. The sweet corn for Five Drops Bourbon is grown on a family farm in southwest Montana. Malted barley and rye come from central Montana. Flathead cherries go into the EichenKirsch brandy. Huckleberries and Montana honey turn up in the gins and liqueurs. “Every spirit is made right here with Montana ingredients,” Edmondson said. “Supporting the community and partnering with local growers has been a non-negotiable since we opened the doors.”

The rest of the SIP haul tells a similar story about range. Double Golds went to the Bourbon Barrel Rye Whiskey and the EichenKirsch Flathead Cherry Brandy, Golds to the Metcalf American Single-Malt and Boss Tweed Old Tom Gin, and a Silver to Queen Bee Honey Gin. By WildRye’s count, the USA TODAY nod brings its lifetime total to 44 awards, more than any other distillery in Montana.

Chief Scientist and self-styled “Whiskey Dr.” Philip Sullivan sees the blind-tasting origin as the part worth lingering on. “A blind tasting takes the label away,” he said. “There’s no fancy bottle or romantic story to fall back on, and a famous name doesn’t buy you anything. The whiskey has to stand on its own.”

Our friends at WildRye Distilling pour at their tasting room at 111 E. Oak Street in Bozeman. The spirits are also stocked at retailers across Montana and ship online to most states. More at wildryedistilling.com.