Although rum is often associated with the Caribbean, Montanya Distillers, a craft rum distillery located high in the Rocky Mountains, is breaking that notion and seeing a 35 percent increase year-over-year. Using high elevation to its advantage, Montanya creates flavors you can’t recreate at sea level and is expanding its presence in seven additional states. Montanya is now available in wider distribution in New York and New Jersey and recently entered Tennessee, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota ,and South Dakota, bringing total distribution to 44 states, plus seven countries.

“What’s most exciting for us is more people can now experience a true American rum,” notes Karen Hoskin, president and co-founder of Montanya. “Everything in our rum is hand-crafted and originates from the U.S., including the non-GMO sugar cane, which we get from Louisiana farmers, and even the bottles and non-plastic synthetic corks. Rum is so versatile and we look forward to learning how people are using our rum to break it out of the stereotypical boxes rum often finds itself in. It’s definitely an exciting year with new markets, new packaging, a new rum, and even an expanding team.”