J. Rieger & Co

I have just had my first of many drinks of the Reiger American Whiskey… This is a whiskey no one who loves whiskey should miss this delightful whiskey. I am not part of some kind of conglomerate… but I bought it as a Missourian and this is fine stuff. Drink it, folks, you will not regret it.

The tour at J. Rieger & Co is more a historic insight into KC history and the history of the east bottoms area than a distillery tour. Ryan and Nathan did a good job of explaining all the history — the previous Hein brewery, John MacDonald’s plan for the warehouse next door, the old Electric Park area. It was cool to see the set up, though the stills won’t start working and producing spirit until May 2015.
The $ 25 tour fee included the tour, lunch from local pig, a chocolate from Urban provisions and $ 10 credit for distillery shirts/​hats/​gifts.
Overall, it was really cool, but samples are not allowed per law (as Ryan was keen to emphasize). So NO samples given during the tour… but, they explained that the ‘KC Whiskey’ is made with sherry mixed in to the bottled batches for sweetness — producing a unique whiskey. They currently use whiskey from Indiana, and will continue to do so for at least 4 years, at which the produce they start distilling later this year will have aged appropriately for them to bottle… A long wait but I’m existed to try it once it’s truly a KC-​produced whiskey.

Today, I was very lucky to experience (as its coined): 2015: The Best Distillery Tour Ever! And it truly was. The passion for Kansas City and J. Rieger & Co. poured out (pun intended) from Ryan, Andy & Nathan (our tour guides and the men behind this new-​to-​us biz in KC). The distillery is located in the East Bottoms, amongst other great local faves: Local Pig/​Pigwich and Urban Provisions. The camaraderie of this location is apparent as the tour was not just limited to the distillery but to their neighbors, as we had a wonderful lunch from Pigwich and a small history lesson (complete w/​chocolate) from Urban Provisions. Though at the moment, the KC Whiskey is blended and not distilled, the beauty of this tour is that you get an «inside look» at the process as everything comes together. As they mentioned, the tour two months ago is a completely different one than today’s. I look forward to checking in and doing the tour in a few months and even more so when the distillery is plugged in and full-​functioning. Ryan, Andy & Nathan are knowledgable, personable and made the entire tour very pleasant and informative. The distillery’s location is rich in history and culture. Makes you really proud to be from Kansas City and to support a business that is for sure going to make the city very, very prideful. Already being a fan of Rieger’s Kansas City Whiskey (thanks to the Horsefeather cocktail from The Rieger), it was really neat to get an in-​depth look at the process. The tour concluded with the the tour group bottling the whiskey itself! It was so much fun and could have not been more pleased with the entirety of the afternoon.