As the first distillery in Washington since Prohibition, Dry Fly has been making a name for itself since 2007, with distribution now bringing its products to about 40 states. With a passion for local sourcing — they use grain grown outside Rosalia, share barrels in partnership with local wineries and breweries to create unique flavors, and even serve burgers from Medical Lake cows whose diet includes Dry Fly's spent grain — it's clear that the distillery has a deep love for the Inland Northwest.
"We care a lot about our community and keeping things local here," says Patrick Donovan, vice president of operations for Dry Fly. "That's always been our primary focus."
And the community loves them back.
In fact, Inlander readers have shown Dry Fly so much love that it's now in the Best of Hall of Fame, with 10 first place wins as the Best Local Distillery.
Since 2021, the distillery has been able to grow its offerings from a much larger space on the corner of Riverside and Monroe. In addition to having more room to produce its canned cocktails and a growing selection of vodka, gin, whiskey and bourbon, Dry Fly added food and a full drink menu. Its staff members also teach cocktail classes, and within the last year the distillery even started offering the chance for community members to create their own gin.
"Within a three-hour window, a group can come in, make their own botanical deck, and bottle their own gin and walk out with it," Donovan says. "It's their own special blend. We always tease 'em that if it sucks, that's not our fault. People have a great time with it."
That's also opened the door in recent months for Dry Fly to work with local bartenders in town to create private label specialty gins for restaurants.
"We give them a conduit to explore and be creative and have their own ideas," Donovan says. "The fun part for us is they get a glimpse of what we do every day and sometimes how hard it is to create the spirit that you want."
With the inspiration for Dry Fly happening on a fishing trip, the brand has also stuck to its founders' nature-loving roots by offering both canned cocktails that are easy to pack along for drinks "on the fly" and premixed "Guided Sip" cocktails that simply need to be poured to enjoy. Dry Fly's bloody mary uses a Spiceology blend, and its Earl Grey old fashioned uses a tea concentrate from Revival Tea Company.
"It's like we row the boat for you. We make the drinks, just fill your glass with ice, pour over and enjoy," Donovan says.
From the early days of bottling parties that relied on community members to help get their spirits out the door, to the days of packaging north of 50,000 gallons of hand sanitizer during the pandemic, Donovan says the community has always played an essential role in supporting Dry Fly, providing great memories even through tough times.
"I'm really grateful for Spokane," Donovan says. "There's just so many experiences, personally, that I've had with people enjoying and being involved with Dry Fly."
2nd PLACE: Browne Family Spirits
3rd PLACE: 2 Loons Distillery
NORTH IDAHO'S BEST: Up North Distillery, Post Falls
