Distillery Licenses

If you produce no more than 200,000 proof gallons per year, you may:

• Provide two ounces of distilled spirits to each customer for on-premises consumption from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM and allow customers to finish consuming until 9:00 PM.
• Sell up to 4.5 liters of your product per customer per day at your distillery for them to take home from 8:00 AM to 2:00 AM.
• Sell and deliver distilled spirits to the Montana Department of Revenue Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.
• Deliver to an agency liquor store using your own equipment, trucks, and employees (see ARM 42.13.807 for specifics).
• Use a common carrier to deliver to the department.
• Apply to the department to have a premises that includes more than one building for manufacturing purposes under 27 CFR 19.53 and is operated under a federal basic permit. 

If you produce more than 200,000 proof gallons per year, you may:

• Sell and deliver distilled spirits to the Cannabis and Alcohol Regulation Division (CARD)
• Use a common carrier to ship to the CARD warehouse

To be approved for a storage depot, a distillery must submit:

• Domestic Distillery Storage Depot application (call ABCD for the new application)
• Verification of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approval for the storage depot

Distilleries may request more than one storage depot. However, each storage depot must have its own domestic distillery storage depot license. 

All storage depots must meet suitability requirements in ARM 41.12.149 before approval.

• New Distillery License Fee: $600
• Distillery Application Processing Fee: $200
• Distillery Renewal Fee: $600

The application processing fee applies only to original applications and does not apply to renewals.

• New Storage Depot License Fee: $400
• Storage Depot Application Processing Fee: $100
• Storage Depot Renewal Fee: $400

The application processing fee applies only to original applications and does not apply to renewals.

All distilled spirit labels must be approved by the Montana Department of Revenue before selling and shipping into Montana.

You may register your labels for approval through our TransAction Portal (TAP).

All distillery locations must follow certain rules, including:

• Your business must be recognizable as a distillery.
• Your business must be physically separated from any business not directly related to making distilled spirits.
• You may not operate under a concession agreement.
• You may not let customers buy alcohol through automatic vending machines or self-service devices.
• You must keep unauthorized people from your manufacturing area.
• You must have an employee directly involved in any alcohol service at your distillery.
• You must have an approved designated sample room if you plan on providing samples for on-premises consumption. This may include a deck or patio if it is enclosed and only accessible from the sample room.
• You may only serve samples in the appropriate amounts and in the designated areas.

For a detailed list of requirements, please see ARM 42.12.149 and 42.13.802.