February 2023

Building

We’ve been working from the roof down: last year, Ben Carroll’s crew put on a new roof and added structural supports to the beams. Derek has taken down all of the inside walls and is about to embark on pulling up the floors. Salvageable wood will be repurposed into construction and finish work. 

While the Montana Cadastral says our building was built in 1920, Derek has found multiple old things from earlier dates. Among them include Poor Tax receipts from 1913 and 1915, a receipt book from 1914, and a Western Union telegram from 1917. Was the building built earlier than 1920, or were these just things ‘brought to the new place’?

Business

Much of this month has been dedicated to putting together two applications for major grants: a Montana Growth Through Agriculture Business Acceleration Grant and a Rural Business Development Grant. We’re grateful for all the support we have received from Courtney and Jess at Headwaters RC&D, as well as local support from the Beaverhead County Chamber of Commerce, Dillon Merchants’ Association, and Montana Craft Malt. Here’s a slice from one of our applications - keep your fingers crossed!

As a startup distillery, we can’t immediately turn a profit on whiskeys that need to age. Developing our whiskey recipes requires an investment in multiple varieties of grains as well as different sizes of barrels. Smaller barrels age the whiskeys faster, allowing us to offer more than one product line (ex. blended whiskeys as well as single-barrel whiskeys; or bourbon and rye and single-malt whiskey, etc). The sooner we’re able to offer a high-quality Montana whiskey, the sooner we’re able to build - and meet - the demand for local craft spirits.

Terminus Distilling Company will positively impact the tourist industry in southwest Montana by bringing visitors to our rural area (Beaverhead County is home to 9,500 people across 5,572sqmi). To tell our story, we need effective marketing and product commercialization. From logo to bottles to merchandise, we will feature how we use Montana-grown ingredients and how we value our partnerships with Dillon’s small businesses.

The 68th Montana Legislature is still in their bi-annual session. In good news, the Senate passed Senate Bill 209 with language to bring opening hours to parity with breweries (last call would be 8pm but we could still be open for folks to finish their drinks until 9pm). However, the Senate struck the language increasing the amount of off-site liquor sales (which would make a significant difference to our tourist and holiday sales). Here’s the text of the bill as it heads to the House. Montanans, if you’d like to reach out to the House Business and Labor Committee, here is a link to message them about your support for the bill (and you might suggest adding back the original language). 

Distillery

We’ve been thinking about what drinks we might have in the tasting room. We’re considering favorite cocktails, seasonal ingredients, and what to serve at our to-go window. Katrina has been experimenting with shrubs (drinks made from mixing fruit, sugar, and vinegar). She’s also mixed up a Sazerac or two for recent taste tests. From mocktails to cocktails, we hope you like what we come up with. 

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