When we look back at our first coronavirus update, the date is hard to wrap our minds around—March 11th. It’s hard to decide if that feels like yesterday or a lifetime ago. So much has happened!

We’re fortunate enough to now contemplate a new phase of the coronavirus response as both the state of Colorado and Gunnison County begin to ease restrictions. Our mountain community was an early hot spot for the virus, and yet measures to flatten the curve have worked. It’s an amazing story of togetherness and resilience, and we’re so proud to have played our part in supporting these efforts.

While it’s tempting to want a quick return to normal, we know the process will be measured and, for the time being, more about finding a new normal than returning to how things were. As we wait to see what develops, we want to assure you that Montanya is weathering the storm and will be ready to open our doors for more than takeout when the time arrives.

In the meantime, we thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek at what we’ve been up to:

Serving up local cocktail kits with safely covered smiles.

It’s no substitute for an evening at the Tasting Room, but we’ve been offering a different selection of cocktail kits each week. It’s been such a pick-me-up for our staff and a great way to boost morale in the community, especially as the Queen of Flauschink (crowned as part of a local end-of-ski-season tradition) has helped with deliveries. (Alas, as we know you may be wondering, we can only offer these kits locally—many things have changed as a result of coronavirus, but most alcohol beverage laws have not. 🙂) In the coming week we plan to start offering a takeout food menu as well.

Navigating federal relief funds.

Montanya was fortunate enough to receive Payroll Protection Program (PPP) funds, which will go a long way in helping keep our staff on payroll for an extra six to eight weeks (one of the commitments we’ve made to help them navigate this experience). It also helps us weather this storm with less depletion of the reserves, so that we have the capital to return to normal business as restrictions end.

Our founder and owner Karen Hoskin also had the opportunity to help 27 local business owners through the same process. These efforts combined with those of local banks, accountants and so many others seem to be paying off—literally!

We learned that by mid April, two local banks processed over 150 approved PPP loans totaling over $13 million. One banker estimates that’s equal to 1,250 saved jobs (temporarily at least) in our county alone—while we know the program hasn’t been perfect, we think that’s something to celebrate.

Distilling and bottling.

Although the Tasting Room has been closed, our distillers have been hard at work making new rum, fine tuning our new bottling line (which allows us to meet social distancing requirements), and shipping rum to places where we plan to expand availability (Texas, we’re coming for ya! More info in the coming weeks).

Keeping everyone close.

Stay at Home orders have been such an important part of slowing the spread of coronavirus, and yet we know that isolation can have its own side effects. We’ve been using weekly zoom meetings, a brand new staff website, and expanded health benefits to make sure everyone stays in touch and never feels alone.

Gettin’ all gussied up.

Every spring and fall we close the Tasting Room for a week to deep clean and make repairs. One up side of being closed for longer? It’s amazing what you can do. From cleaning the grill and grease trap (Thanks, Shane!) to ordering new tables and a fresh coat of paint, our staff have been hard at work making the Tasting Room shine like new.

You may have heard that we’ve also been making surface sanitizer for local groups responding to coronavirus and have a new still on the way—the culmination of months of work by our distillers, our founders and our new friends at Bridgetown Systems in Portland, Oregon.

All the while, it’s been such a source of inspiration to know that Montanya rum fans have been supporting us close to home and from afar. One Crested Butte second home owner even made their condo available to any staff who needed a place to crash. ❤️We feel and appreciate the love.

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