One of Montana’s 2023 Ranching Industry Highlights: Bourbon?

If that headline conjures up images of a couple good ol' boys running a still back behind the barn, then are you in for a surprise!

Nope, this is a long way from your great-grandpappy's Depression-era moonshine and hiding from the revenuers. And the players not only include multi-generation Montana ranchers, a Yellowstone TV series actor gives it a little kick as well.

The Northern Ag News Network based in Billings tells us that a partnership formed by David Leuschen, owner of the Lazy K Bar Ranch and third-generation Montanan, Cole Hauser, Yellowstone actor with Montana family history dating back to 1862, and Britt West, a 25-year beverage alcohol industry veteran and resident of Livingston, Montana, has brought to the state Lazy K Bar Bourbon.

While the industry is certainly not new to Montana with its numerous distilleries, there is definitely a feel of the old west to this particular product. Located near Melville, just north of Big Timber in Sweet Grass County, the Lazy K Bar was  started as a working cattle and horse ranch in 1887. The ranch opened to guests in just over 100 years ago, making it the oldest operating dude ranch in Montana.

The driving force has been Britt West's decades of experience in the alcohol industry,  fine-tuning the product inside and out. The eight-year-old bourbon whiskey's bottle design is, "ruggedly handsome, burned with the ranch brand on aged leather, and topped off with a hefty brass closure, but it’s what’s inside the bottle that ultimately matters and we think people are going to be very pleased when they give us a try.”

Lazy K Bar Bourbon is sold exclusively in Montana and can be found at select retailers and restaurants. You can find out more about the Lazy K Bar Ranch and its bourbon here.