Cover photo courtesy of J Bartholomew Photography
If you’ve ever wondered about Dry Fly Distilling’s logo, a hand-tied fishing fly, it’s because the idea for a regional grain-to-glass distillery was born on the banks of the Gallatin River in Montana when founder Don Poffenroth was fishing with a friend. There’s nothing dry about the result, which debuted in 2007 as Washington state’s first distillery since the prohibition era. Dry Fly has since evolved from making craft vodka and gin to a full lineup of whiskies, a downtown Spokane tasting room and a place in the heart of the region’s outdoors and restaurant communities.
“We just very much appreciate our community, and that permeates through all of our products,” says now-President Patrick Donovan, who began as Dry Fly’s first employee about 17 years ago. Donovan’s favorite Dry Fly drink is the gin and tonic, which he enjoys after a local trail run or while hanging out in camp at Farragut State Park.
In the last five years alone, Dry Fly has onboarded two canned cocktail lineups, made sanitizer during COVID-19 for the community (called Spokanitizer), moved into a multi-million-dollar new facility and, most recently, partnered with one of the premier wine makers in the country.
What has stayed true to Dry Fly’s ethos is sourcing the good local ingredients we have in the Inland Northwest. Grains for their alcohols come from family farms within 30 miles of the distillery in a totally grain-to-glass operation. Some of the spent grains from the distillation process are fed to cattle in Medical Lake, where they source beef for the burger at their tasting room and restaurant location that opened downtown in 2021.
Dry Fly loves to collaborate with companies like Revival Tea, Side Hustle Spirits, DOMA Coffee and Spiceology to bring creative and flavorful cocktails that bolster local businesses. “We very much believe in partnering with people in our community to create cool things,” says Donovan. “Sometimes it makes it harder, but most of the time it makes it a lot more fun and a lot more interesting.” When you sit down to a menu at Dry Fly’s happy hour, you’ll find a celebration of local goods.
Dry Fly’s newer facility also includes a gift shop and large windows into the distilling room, notably marked by the giant copper stills set with gauges and threaded with pipes. “It’s like a Willy Wonka factory for adults,” says Donovon, a place where guests can book a tour or sign up for an interactive class like custom, small-batch gin making. (Check out dryflydistilling.com for a summer lineup of in-house events.)
Dry Fly’s latest partnership with winemaker Charlie Wagner of Caymus Winery has resulted in a new line of wine-based canned cocktails, meant to be enjoyed on hikes, lakes, rivers and ski hills for their easy packability. (Read the Provisions article in this issue by Jon Jonckers for a deep-dive on those tasty new profiles.) These wine-based cocktails will also allow Dry Fly to get involved with community events in ways they couldn’t as a spirits provider.
This summer you can find Dry Fly at Bourbon, Bacon and Brews (June 14), sponsoring Spokane Pride (June 14), at the Coeur d’Alene Emerge Block Party (July 11), and at the Wine, Women and Shoes event benefitting Idaho Youth Ranch (July 24).
As Dry Fly widens their cast, the distillery is staying committed to community and an intimacy with each beverage that is unique to the marketplace. The love is something you’ll taste in the glass. Explore Dry Fly headquarters, restaurant and gift shop at 1021 W. Riverside, Spokane. Dryflydistilling.com
