Gulch Distillers Announces Grand Opening of New Tasting Room

Gulch Distillers, Helena’s finest distillery, has opened a new tasting room and bottle shop at 4 W. Lawrence Street. Open Monday through Saturday from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM, this tasting room features an expansive cocktail menu and bottle shop. Customers are able to purchase up to 4.5 Liters (six 750ml bottles) of spirits a day and consume cocktails featuring up to two ounces of spirits manufactured by Gulch Distillers.

“We are thrilled to open our new tasting room in the heart of downtown Helena,” said Tyrrell Hibbard, co-owner of Gulch Distillers. “This space gives us a more visible brand headquarters to showcase our handcrafted spirits and cocktails.”

The new tasting room is part of a factory expansion project for Gulch Distillers. Thanks to legislation that passed in 2023, distilleries can now have “non-contiguous” manufacturing. After an extensive remodel of the basement space, a new factory with a dedicated bottling line was added at 4 W. Lawrence Street. This allowed for the transfer of the Gulch Tasting Room to this new factory location. The original Gulch Distillers location at 790 Front Street is now closed to the public and used entirely for manufacturing and storage.

“Our distilling process has been squeezed into too small of a space for too long,” said Steffen Rasile, the other co-owner of Gulch Distillers. “This expansion is much overdue and gives us the needed space to increase our production of award-winning spirits.”

Longtime Helena residents will know the tasting room location as the former home of DeVore’s Saddlery and Western Wear. The remodel process included replacing the concrete basement floor and adding all the necessary upgrades to make an approved manufacturing and retail food facility. The upstairs construction included a handcrafted front and back bar made with 100+ year old wood and drawers as well as the addition of a new handicap accessible restroom. The expansion and relocation project was funded in part by Montana Department of Agriculture’s Growth Through Agriculture Program.

Gulch Distillers is a grain-to-glass microdistillery located in downtown Helena. Their handcrafted spirits include Burrone Fernet, Flying Anvil Whisky, Fruition Apple Brandy, Triple Divide Vodka, Guardian Gin, Guardian Reserve Gin, Flintlock Spiced Rum, Farangi Ouzo, and Burrone Aperitivo. The distillery tasting room is open Monday-Saturday from 2pm-8pm at 4 W. Lawrence Street, Helena, MT.

Gulch Distillers is Expanding

Almost ten years ago, we started Gulch Distillers with a simple vision: to share the story of our place with exceptional spirits from locally sourced ingredients. Our family-owned, locally operated distillery has proven itself in ways we never expected, thanks to the support of our incredible community and the dedication of our remarkable staff.

For the last year we’ve been diligently working behind the scenes to expand our physical footprint in downtown Helena. We are adding a new location at 4 W. Lawrence Street, between Queen City Ballet and the Gold Bar. Longtime Helena residents will know this as the former DeVore’s Saddlery. We’ve added a new factory space in the lower level that will serve as our dedicated bottling facility. We will relocate our tasting room and bottle shop to the main floor. At that time we will close our current facility, 790 Front Street, to the public and dedicate the full space to production. This is a much needed expansion for us, giving us the space to produce our award-winning spirits more efficiently and in greater volumes.

Though we are a few months away from our ten-year anniversary, we are just weeks away from opening our new tasting room—a stylish, historic, and welcoming space designed to enhance the Gulch Distillers experience. We will continue to craft fresh, balanced, and intentional cocktails from our Helena-produced spirits, but in an atmosphere consistent with downtown Helena. As we wrap up construction and licensing, we’ve realized that some extra support from our Gulch family will help us cross the finish line.

If you would like to participate in our expansion and relocation project, you can join our FINISH STRONG campaign. Just like a pour of Burrone Fernet helps you finish strong after a good meal, your support will help us finish strong after a long planning and construction process. Check out the campaign and the exclusive perks at gulchdistillers.com/finishstrong. Campaign supporters will be the first invited to enjoy a drink in our new space.

Your participation will help us continue our commitment to quality, innovation, and showcasing the best of local flavors. Whether you’ve been with us from the start or are just discovering what makes Gulch Distillers special, we invite you to be part of this exciting next step.

Thank you for raising a glass with us—here’s to the next decade of great spirits and better company!

Tyrrell & Mary Hibbard

Steffen Rasile & Julia Gustafson

Gulch Distillers

Gulch Distillers Strikes Gold

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Helena Product Wins National Award

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