Everybody knows someone who has that one special uncle—the uncle who always makes sure your belly is full and you're drinking the good stuff. He’s been working on dinner all day long and can’t wait to serve it up. He just got his hands on a bottle of whiskey that no one else in Montana can ever seem to find. He’s surrounded by friends who make you feel like you’re one of the gang and the party wouldn’t be the same without you! Thanks to Bourbon, we all have that uncle now—Bozeman’s Uncle Jay.
Bourbon takes you to that place in your heart where your friends and family live. It’s the backyard of your Uncle who used to live down South and picked up some sort of barbecue magic that no one else can ever seem to learn. It’s the memories of camping up Brackett Creek in high school with a bit more class and much better booze. It’s the music and the food and the laughter when the sun’s just setting after floating the Madison. It’s the deep happiness of a day spent with the whole family and the bit of rowdiness that happens once the kids have been sent to bed. And thanks to Bourbon, it’s always there and there’s someone else doing the cleanup.
When your drink comes you’ll know that you're in a place where a good cocktail is appreciated but not over complicated, and where it’s not just a beer you’re drinking—it’s the right beer, in the right place, in the right company, with the right food on the way. When dinner is served you’ll taste the fun and the love, the memories of a Montana lifetime and of road trips through Alabama and Tennessee in every bite.
You can’t get much more Bozeman than Jay Thane. His mom comes from an old Billings family and his dad comes from an old Missoula family. They met at MSU, married (over 50 years and counting), and stayed in Bozeman to raise their family. Jay grew up here. Jay loves Bozeman. And Bozeman loves its Uncle Jay. He went to grade school at Irving and made friends there he’s kept his whole life. At BHS, he was the best long snapper the school had ever seen. Unfortunately, Bourbon wasn’t around then and he was about 60 pounds shy of taking his talents to the college level. He’s a heck of a photographer, though, and he honed his skills for that at MSU. While in school Jay got his start working in bars on the door of the Hauf, and only left that job when he left Bozeman for a job as a photographer for a newspaper in Florida.
Like it has for many who grew up here, one thing that living away from Bozeman taught Jay was that it’s better to live in Bozeman and do anything than it is to live away from Bozeman and use your degree. Jay came back from Florida ready to figure out how to stay. Thankfully for all of us, the answer turned out to be food and drink. He worked at Mixer’s (which occupied the building that was replaced by the one where Bourbon is now), then did a stint bartending Ted’s before being hired away by the Bacchus Pub. He then opened Copper, where in typical Bozeman fashion he was introduced one busy night to his future wife, Brittany (a Great Falls girl), by a friend who’d had a few, and Jay is now the father of two amazing daughters. After stepping away from Copper, the idea for Bourbon began to form, and Jay is excited to once again be bringing good food and drink to Bozeman, because Bozeman is Home. And he hopes that Bourbon becomes a home to everyone who comes inside.