Whiskey In the Jar-o

A couple Saturdays ago I went with a group of liquor lovers to the Montana RoughStock Distillery for a bottling party. RoughStock is a locally owned business and Montana’s first whiskey distillery in over 100 years. They use Montana barley and other local products to make the magic happen. We started with a tour of the facility, the history of whiskey and instructions on how to run the different stations. We all scurried to pick a task and were encouraged to test the product for “quality assurance” while we worked. We were able to move around and try out the different duties. I manned the bottling machine, the shrink wrap machine, applied stickers and the last station, which included writing the batch number, bottle number and personally signing the back of the label.
The details are a little fuzzy, but in the end 400 bottles were filled, corked, labeled, shrink wrapped, “Made In Montana” stickered, signed and boxed. A handful of people were intoxicated, one member was drooling and our bellies were full of Tarantino's Pizza, which tastes surprisingly as good during the day as it does at 2 am after a bar crawl.
Some of us left with bottles of whiskey, which range in price from $45-50 and free t-shirts:

It was an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon and a brilliant way to get free labor out of alcoholics.
http://www.montanawhiskey.com/

Montana Manhattan

¾ ounces Sweet Vermouth
2 ½ ounces RoughStock Whiskey
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 Maraschino Cherry (or 4 if you’re hungry)
1 Twist Orange Peel
¾ ounces Sweet Vermouth
2 ½ ounces RoughStock Whiskey
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 Maraschino Cherry (or 4 if you’re hungry)
1 Twist Orange Peel

Blue Eyes...Cryin' In The Rain

This past Friday was the spectacular Willie Nelson concert. I bought my ticket 13 seconds after they went on sale and looked forward to it for two months. My friend and I drove to Big Sky where we proceeded to fill up on beer before the show started.

(Mmmmmm….beer)

We ate some food to soak up the beer, drank some more beer and then caught a shuttle to the pavilion. We arrived about 10 seconds before the last opening act performed.

(opening act…I don’t remember their name, but they were wonderful)

Even though we arrived late, we managed to secure a spot directly front and center, which irritated the dude near us who had waited there 3 hours.

(me rockin’ my cowgirl shirt happy to be right up front without the irritation of all that waiting)

The mob started to roll in fairly quickly at this point, but I was smart enough to bring a big tall dude who was smart enough to stand next to a big tall marine and between those two, they kept this very short claustrophobe from having a panic attack and getting squished. Kind of amazing (frightening actually) to watch people try to crush their way to the front…it’s like watching a zombie attack.
Safely nestled in front of my bodyguards, I anxiously awaited Willie. He finally came out and looked and sounded as incredible as I imagined. He had this guitar that was probably constructed in 1792 and sang all of my favorite songs. My throat hurt a little bit the next morning from all the off-key singing I did.
After the concert was over, we didn’t know where to catch a shuttle back to the car so we walked...for what seemed like hours and 100 miles. I complained the entire time and nearly sissied out at least 6 times (20 times). My friend kept lying and saying “we’re almost there”…then he bribed me with “Just COME ON! I’ll buy you a beer!” I got a second wind and made it, but next time I’m waiting for the damn shuttle.
It was a legendary night and the best part of the whole night? WILLIE.FREAKIN.NELSON.MADE.EYE.CONTACT.AND.WINKED….AT.ME. No joke.
Thanks to everyone who put up with me before the concert as I annoyed you with Willie lyrics the entire day. And thanks, Mike, for being the ONLY person brave enough to go with me. The whole day just made my year.

(Willie in his bandana)

(Willie in his cowboy hat)