Bigfork distillery on pace to double production

The success of Whistling Andy always comes back to the same thing — passion.

“You have to be passionate about it. It’s just like any other business,” said Brian Anderson, the lead distiller of one of Montana’s first micro-distilleries.

It was passion that kept Anderson and his partner Mike Marchetti going for five years before they opened their distillery and tasting room in Bigfork. It was passion that made Anderson sleep at the distillery more nights than at home the first year and a half as he learned the intricacies of making spirits.

And this same passion is why Whistling Andy products can now be found in seven states and three countries and soon will be producing 3,000 bottles a month compared to 600 bottles monthly when they opened on New Year’s Eve in 2010.

Anderson had always loved spirits, but it wasn’t until he met a group of traveling Russian businessmen in Woods Bay who were amazed that none of the cherry orchards were making Kirschwasser, a brandy made from the distillation of cherries, that Anderson considered making his own spirits.

“Up until that point, I thought making liquor was like refining oil and that you had to have a $40 million plant like Barcardi or Jack Daniels. I didn’t realize you could do it on a small scale,” Anderson said.

At the time, there were only a handful of micro-distilleries in America and Anderson had to do hundreds of hours of research to find out how to put a distillery together.

“It’s very difficult to get started. Before you can even apply for your federal license you have to have a lease signed or own a building and you have to have your equipment purchased. It’s very difficult to secure funding and that took awhile to find good partners,” Anderson said. “It’s definitely a difficult business to get into.”

After nearly five years of securing funding, completing stacks of paperwork required for state and federal licenses and learning how to operate a distillery, Whistling Andy became the third micro-distillery in Montana when it opened Dec. 31, 2010 to great fanfare.

“The whole community was behind us from the beginning. A lot of the stuff you see in here was donated from the community,” said Anderson, a geohydrologist by trade. “Everybody was really behind us. When we opened on New Year’s Eve there were 50 people outside the windows watching us,” Anderson said.

Whistling Andy, which was Anderson’s father’s nickname in the Navy, not only received community support early on, but also received validation from national critics, winning the prestigious Platinum award at the 2011 Spirits  International Prestige Awards for its Hibiscus Coconut Rum.

But not everything came easily for Whistling Andy from the start, Anderson admits. There were the countless nights he spent at the distillery attempting to perfect his craft. And there was a steep learning curve as they tried to figure out how to distribute and market the products, especially because of strict and often confusing regulations for distilleries.

“We’re dealing with a controlled substance, so there are rules on what we can and can’t  say, what we can and can’t do and where we can and can’t go. It’s not like jam or a skin-care product where we can go to a local farmers market and just start selling it,” Anderson said.

They also had to learn how to compete against the “big boys,” which spill more in a day than Anderson can make in a year and have huge marketing budgets that Whistling Andy could never compete with, but their distillers don’t go on sales calls.

“That’s the one thing we can offer that the big boys can’t,” said Anderson, who was getting ready to spend the next three weeks on the road making sales calls. “We can offer that hands-on experience. It’s not a hired salesperson, it’s the people that make it and are passionate about it. They get to actually meet the person making the spirits and we get to tell them our story and tell them why we are different.”

So far, people have liked the story behind Whistling Andy. Their products are now in seven states: New Jersey, Illinois, California, Nevada, Missouri, Oregon, Washington and, of course, Montana. They also have markets in Canada and Australia. Anderson said by June they should be in full production, producing 3,000 bottles a month — double last June’s production when they were producing 1,500 bottles.

Whistling Andy prepared for this demand. The building they own on Montana 35 had an extra 3,000 square feet, which will be used to expand the operation. The business also add a more permanent bottling station and a grain mill, where they can grind grain purchased from two local farmers. Anderson said with these improvements they could grow to eight times the current production in the foreseeable future.

Being small does have its advantages and gives a distiller more creative freedom, Anderson said. Their small size allows them to bring a variety of products to the market quickly. Whistling Andy, which started with five products right out of the gate, is now up to 10 spirits, including seasonal products. And making new products is what Anderson likes doing best.

“We get to tinker around and play with different things all the time. It’s just so much fun,” Anderson said.

Reporter Aaric Bryan may be reached at 758-4474 or by email at abryan@dailyinterlake.com.