Construction of new Polson distillery begins
Three of the four owners behind Swimming Horse Distillery, from left, Pat McCarthy, Michele McCarthy and Mike Bouchee. Not pictured is Stephen Turner of Polson. (Lake County Leader)
This building at the corner of First Street East and Highway 93 in Polson will be leveled to make room for Swimming Horse Distillery. (Lake County Leader)
A building in downtown Polson will be leveled to make way for a new distillery, and the owners hope to have their products available by midsummer.
Around the first of March workers will tear down the building at the corner of First Street East and Highway 93, the future site of Swimming Horse Distillery.
The ownership group includes Stephen Turner, owner and operator of Brothers Construction in Polson; Pat and Michele McCarthy of Butte; and Mike Bouchee of Missoula, an attorney and vice president of Rocky Mountain Development Group in Missoula. Bouchee is a University of Montana graduate and a member of the Grizzlies’ 1995 national championship football team.
This is the first foray into the distillery business for all the owners, who were at the site last week doing early work on the dismantling of the building directly across the highway from Beacon Tire. The building used to be home to the county’s Alcohol Compliance Monitoring office. In late January, the compliance office moved into a new space in the Brazil Building at 307 First St. SW.
“We love the area, and we’re excited to do what we can to help Polson grow,” Turner said.
Swimming Horse Distillery will produce gin and vodka, which should be available this summer. They’ll also make bourbon, but it won’t be available right away due to a longer production process.
Bouchee attended the national conference of the American Craft Spirits Association in Louisville in December to learn more about the industry and help shape their new operation. The group said they’ll certainly need to add some employees, but it’s too early to know for sure how many people they will hire.
Turner said the new building will be one story with a high-ceiling distilling area in the back and a tasting room up front.
The city of Polson is trying to incentivize the creation of new living spaces along with new retail construction downtown, but Turner said a distillery just doesn’t work with overhead housing.
However, Turner and Bouchee are also partners on an empty lot along the 300 block of Main Street between Mission Mountain Natural Foods and Second Nature Gifts and Goods. Turner said they’re planning a three-story building for that space, with retail space on the ground floor and condominiums above. A timetable for that project has yet to be established.
