MEET ME in
MONTANA WILLIE’S DISTILLERY OF ENNIS, MT WRITTEN
T
BY
AMBER
G.
CHRISTENSEN-SMITH
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here’s a wild feel to the hills and plains of Montana. It’s still very much untouched and vast, and amazingly
pleasing to get lost in. Ask Robin and Willie Blazer, owners of
Willie’s Distillery in Ennis, Montana, and they’ll clearly tell you this place is more than perfect. The Blazers—in their heavenly home found in the beauty of Montana—are creating some of the best moonshine in the West, and have the perfect background for distilling their batches of moonshine, bourbon, and liqueurs. Robin grew up in Montana on a farm, and knew—when the two decided this would be a great venture for them—she could find her way around amazing grains. In contrast, Willie grew up in the moonshine territory of North Carolina, near the Tennessee border. When Willie announced to Robin (as they were digging into what entrepreneurial idea would work best for them) that they should make moonshine, something just clicked. “We never stop coming up with ideas we want to do,” says Robin. She notes that they often keep track of their ideas in a folder and build small business plans for each idea that presents
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preparation. The Blazers take their work serious and focus on craft each and every day: “Craft means taking deliberate time and effort to make something exceptional.” They believe in taking something and making it their own. By creating within these parameters each day, they believe you put your signature on a quality product, and it’s important to take pride in that work.
AMANDA
JOY
CHRISTENSEN
the BEGINNINGS… In 2007, the Blazers moved to Ennis, MT, after deciding it was time to go into business for themselves instead of working for others. In Ennis, they found a perfect location for people who love the outdoors—fly fishing, big game hunting, and bowhunting to name a few—as it is a very popular location for sportsmen and tourists. The Blazers learned by research, as well, that these types of travelers typically love good quality small-batch whiskey, and they were ready to create just this very spirit. Robin, as the first distiller for Willie’s, has learned that craft distilling is an art…and a science. “It’s definitely an art. There is science to it…but if we take exactly the same recipe as another distiller we can’t replicate that here. It won’t happen. There is an art and a science to it. It will be different and I don’t know why. I think I know why…all of the science things that go into it… but there’s also that subjectively to it. Science is art. You can’t separate the two, ever.”
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itself. The distilling one really stuck and Willie’s Distillery was officially born in 2012, after a few hard years of planning and
BY
Willie’s Distillery first began their endeavor with making moonshine. “Moonshine is the same proof as whiskey, and the same thing before it goes in the barrel.” Robin and Willie explain that many people that didn’t grow up around moonshine have misgivings about the clear liquid. Willie has found that he has to educate everyone that is not from the south regarding moonshine and how it’s not as scary as it seems (or prone to causing blindness).
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