Spirits of the Past

Four heritage alcohol brands are shaping the future of their industry.

Story by Evan Allen Wood & Kristina Light

When the nation went dry on January 17, 1920, Missouri was anything but parched. The state stood at the center of America’s drinking culture, home to some of the largest alcohol producers on the planet. Anheuser-Busch ranked among the world’s three biggest breweries. Stone Hill Winery helped make Missouri the nation’s second-largest wine-producing state. And in Kansas City, J. Rieger & Co. was America’s largest mail-order whiskey seller. When Congress put the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition) into action, the door to alcohol production was slammed shut.

For most commercial alcohol producers, the experiment proved fatal. Breweries and distilleries shuttered, brands vanished, and once-bustling operations fell silent. A resilient few—Anheuser-Busch among them, along with the distillery that would become McCormick— scrambled to survive, pivoting to ice cream, malt products, or medicinal spirits dispensed by prescription. Others were not so lucky, leaving behind only names, buildings, and stories.

A century later, Missouri drinkers are once again seeking authenticity—local flavor, crafts- manship, and a sense of place. That renewed appetite has breathed fresh life into legacy pro- ducers such as Holladay Distillery, Stone Hill Winery, J. Rieger & Co., and Anheuser-Busch. By pairing deep historical roots with modern innovation and flavor, these four icons aren’t just reviving old brands—they’re helping shape Missouri’s drinking culture all over again.

HOLLADAY DISTILLERY

Holladay Distillery, located just outside Weston, has no shortage of claims to fame. It is the oldest distillery west of the Mississippi still in operation at its original location, established in 1856. Its founder, Ben Holladay, is an iconic figure in the mythology of the American West, best known for operating an overland stagecoach route to California and his acquisition of the Pony Express.

Perhaps most unique of all, the Holladay Distillery is sited around a natural spring visited by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804. “Without them, we probably would not be here today,” says Holladay Distillery tour guide David Pecha.

Holladay began selling his whiskey under the name Blue Springs Distillery, a nod to the geographic feature that had led him to the site, and aged his whiskey in a storeroom built into a natural cave, which had previously been used to cure meat.

For years, the Holladay Distillery was known as McCormick Distilling Company, which primarily sold value spirits. Recently though, the operation has embraced its roots: making bourbon. To distill its bourbon, the company uses water from a cistern that was hand dug in the 1830s. The water that fills the cistern flows from the same spring recorded in the Lewis and Clark journals.

The operation has changed hands a number of times, even surviving Prohibition by continuing to sell whiskey legally for “medicinal purposes.” Throughout Prohibition it was possible to receive a prescription for a pint of whiskey from a doctor, though, even then, it’s medical efficacy was debated. In many cases this was simply a way to get around the regulations and make some extra cash. In 1942, the distillery became McCormick Distilling Co. and by 1985 had ceased distilling bourbon altogether.

In the mid-90s, new owners implemented a plan that included creating premium spirits and a return to bourbon production. The vision came to fruition in 2016 when the site reopened for distillery tours after a two-decade closure, and bourbon distilling resumed.

The rules of bourbon production under federal guidelines are very strict, including the types of barrels that the alcohol is aged in (charred oak), and how long it is to be aged. To be marketed as Missouri bourbon, it is required that the oak barrels used for aging are manufactured in the state and the corn in the mash bill is exclusively grown in Missouri.

New distilleries find it almost impossible to introduce a bottled-in-bond Missouri Bourbon as their first product. In order to claim both “bottled in bond” and “Missouri bourbon” on the label, particular sets of guidelines must be adhered to, both of which involve a few years of aging. For a distillery just starting out, it’s common to purchase finished product from another producer in order to generate initial sales rather than to invest in an entire commercial distilling operation and then wait two to six years before making money. Because Holladay had stayed in operation (though under a different name), they could be patient about reviving their bourbon operation.

“We’ve bet big on the transparency and the education behind what we’re doing,” master distiller Kyle Merklein says. “The taste profiles, how you consume bourbon, and all of those other details, those may change, but I think people want to know what it is that they’re drinking, and that’s the trend that we don’t think will be different.”

Transparency and commitment to the Holladay distillery’s historic roots blend together in the barrels that fill its rickhouses. Having produced alcohol during Prohibition, Kyle and the Holladay team had full access to mash bill combinations and recipes used since post- Prohibition, as well as access to people who knew seasoned and effective methods and processes for making alcohol.

STONE HILL WINERY

It shouldn’t be surprising here in the Cave State that Stone Hill Winery is another producer who can trace its origins back to underground stone structures that were created before 1900.

By the time Prohibition went into effect, Stone Hill was one of the largest winemaking operations in the country. Jon Held, who owns Stone Hill along with his wife, Karen, marvels at the scale of the pre-Prohibition operation, considering how much labor had to be done by sheer manpower. “They had these presses that guys were walking in a circle around, reefing down on the screw mechanism to squeeze the juice out,” Jon says. “The pumps were lever operating. They had some steam power, but they really weren’t using it in the cellars. When you think about the layout of this property, before Prohibition they utilized gravity. They were barreling for shipment and bottling at the very bottom of the hill.

Aside from scaling its winemaking, Stone Hill was also developing a reputation for quality wine on the international stage. Aside from winning awards at multiple international competitions, Stone Hill’s Norton was awarded the distinction of “Best Red Wine of All Nations” at the 1873 World’s Fair in Vienna.

Unlike some of its peers in the alcohol industry in Missouri, Stone Hill had no viable path for surviving Prohibition. While other wineries were allowed to continue production of wines used for religious purposes, anti-German sentiment stemming from World War I contributed to the destruction of the industry. “It was a recipe for disaster for this community,” Jon says. “The German people here, when the US got into World War I, they were not trusted at all. They just completely destroyed this industry.” Most of the vines growing in the local region were ripped out, and the formerly thriving industry was all but extinguished, according to Jon.

Stone Hill went defunct. In its cellars sat a dozen 2,500 gallon casks, each with a life-sized carving of one of the apostles. These were carefully disassembled so they could be shipped and put back together someday. Local legend holds they were transported to Germany, but Jon thinks it more likely they ended up at a rum distillery somewhere in the Caribbean, if not South America.

For decades afterward, the cellars at Stone Hill were used for a commercial mushroom growing operation. The business’s owner at the time, Bill Harrison, was looking to retire, but wanted to see the facility used once again for wine making. At the time, Jon’s parents, Jim and Betty Held, were growing grapes on a four-acre vineyard about 18 miles from Stone Hill. After hearing about their vineyard, Bill invited Jim and Betty to use his cellars for their wine. Jon recalls his father reflecting on the decision to get into an industry he didn’t know much about, apparently saying, “I had nothing to lose. You know, I was just a poor farmer that had grapes. And this offer came along.”

Bill let Jim and Betty use the facilities rent free for the first year. At this point, the art of viticulture was not something anyone in the family had much experience with. As Jon says, their experience was limited to growing grapes on four acres and making some homemade wine. But the uniqueness of the facilities at Stone Hill was a draw, and Jim planned to market the winery first and foremost as a tourist attraction.

Over time, their winemaking process became refined. The Held family communicated with Ottmar Stark and his family, who were the previous owners of Stone Hill winery, and Jon and Nathan received formal training in viticulture. As the operation grew, relics from its past resurfaced. Today, bottles and advertisements from Stone Hill’s early days can be seen at the winery.

Many of the grape vines growing in the region before Prohibition have been lost, and with them, the better part of 100 varieties of grapes, according to Nathan, who works on finding lost grape varietals and attempts to revive them. “Some have been almost fully lost but are still in little repositories across the world. Some have found new homes, like in Brazil, but have been completely forgotten because this was their home prior to Prohibition,” Nathan says.

In fact, the Norton grape—known as the bedrock of Missouri’s contemporary wine industry was thought to be lost after Prohibition, but was revived in part by grafts from Norton vines that were planted during the Civil War. The grapes came back to life in a small vineyard that is today part of Stone Hill’s operation. Visitors to the winery today can purchase bottles made from these more than 150-year-old grape vines.

J. RIEGER & CO.

Prior to Prohibition, J. Rieger & Co. in Kansas City was the largest mail-order whiskey producer in the country, ahead of its time in its use of marketing and dis- tribution. But like the majority of alcohol producers, Prohibition spelled out the end of the brand. Alexander Rieger, son of the company’s founder Jacob Rieger, who was president during Prohibition, was aware of the increasing momentum toward the prohibition of alcohol, and had already begun to diversify Rieger’s operation. Most notably, he established the Rieger Hotel, built in 1915.

Prohibition presented Alexander with a dilemma. It was no longer legal to produce alcohol, but the possession of liquor that was made prior to Prohibition was more of a gray area. Revenue agents made a show of discovering stockpiles of alcohol and destroying the barrels for the benefit of local photo journalists. But Alexander wasn’t inclined to see his handiwork spilled into the streets of Kansas City, so he fought the order in court to hand over his remaining barrel. After seven years, a federal judge ruled he could hold onto his “private stock.”

The Rieger distillery ceased its operations in 1919, and the brand faded from memory. “The fact that incident took place is one of the reasons that we find as many bottles today as we have,” says Ryan, referring to the amount of pre-Prohibition artifacts that the company has collected since relaunching.

When J. Rieger was relaunched in 2014 by Ryan, along with Andy Rieger, great-great-great grandson of Jacob Rieger, there was very little to build on other than a brand name. Beginning with a blank canvas, the pair worked with industry veterans such as Dave Pickerell, once the master distiller at Maker’s Mark and known as the Johnny Appleseed of craft distilling, to create a high-end product worthy of the J. Rieger name.

After a period of trial and error, Ryan describes feeling stuck.

Searching for inspiration, Ryan and Dave studied post-Prohibition rules and regulations for whiskey production as outlined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. “There were two sentences that jumped out at me that really caught me by surprise,” Ryan says. “It said, ‘through established trade practice, you’re allowed to add up to 2.5 percent sherry into blended American whiskey.’ ”

This language in the law governing the production of whiskey after it had been illegal for 14 years, particularly the phrase about having an established practice, tipped Ryan off that sherry (a fortified wine that can only be produced in the area outside Jerez de la Frontera in Spain) must have been a common additive in whiskeys made before Prohibition.

Adding sherry to the blend proved to be the missing piece for the whiskey. The next step in the process of creating J. Rieger’s blend was to learn about different kinds of sherry and the process of blending it. “Next thing I know, we’re on a trip to Spain,” Ryan says. “We start experimenting with different types of sherry, blending it in small amounts, and that’s where we ended up with our blend.” Rieger launched its new blend of whiskey and gave it the appellation of Kansas City Whiskey, which was an entirely new subset of American whiskey. Today other distillers, including West Bottoms Whiskey in Kansas City, are also creating Kansas City Whiskey, which requires the use of sherry. Rieger is also helping lead an effort to have Kansas City Whiskey established as an official designation under Missouri state law, similar to the way Missouri Bourbon is, so that anyone producing it will be beholden to the guidelines for its creation.

J. Rieger and its Kansas City Whiskey have enjoyed a number of accolades, and its spirits can now be found in bars and restaurants across the country. Parallel to Stone Hill’s post-revival experience, as the Rieger brand has grown and received more recognition, artifacts from pre-Prohibition have made their way to the company through collectors.

ANHEUSER-BUSCH

Eberhard Anheuser immigrated to Missouri in 1843. He became a major creditor of the Bavarian Brewery Company, and as that brewery failed in 1860, he bought out the minor creditors, establishing himself as the owner. The company was renamed E. Anheuser & Company.

A year later, Adolphus Busch, a brewery supply salesperson, married Anheuser’s daughter Lilly. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Adolphus returned to St. Louis and began working for the brewery.

In 1869, Adolphus Busch became a partner at E. Anheuser & Co. Eberhard retained his position as the company’s head, while Adolphus managed day-to-day operations. Adolphus quickly resolved problems that limited the brewery’s distribution. In recognition of his efforts, the company was renamed the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association. When Eberhard passed away in 1880, Adolphus became president.

Immediately upon taking his new position, Adolphus realized two major problems that needed solutions. First, beer had a short shelf life. By the late 1870s, Busch implemented pasteurization: the process of heating beer to kill microorganisms that cause spoilage, dramatically extending its freshness. They also revolutionized the long-distance transport of beer with ice houses along railway lines and refrigerated freight cars.

The next goal was to establish a defining flagship beer. In the mid-1870s, Adolphus and his friend Carl Conrad developed a Bohemian-style lager. It was created to stand out, using rice in the fermentation process to soften tones of malted barley. Soon, the company’s newest beer became its signature flavor.

Most importantly, Adolphus understood the power of marketing and capitalized on it through merchandise and brewery tours, both of which are still offered to fans of the company today.

When Adolphus passed in 1913, the torch passed to his son, August A. Busch Sr. In 1920, when Prohibition began, August strategically converted the brewery into a factory producing ice cream, soft drinks, corn syrup, motorized truck bodies, and Bevo, a popular nonalcoholic malt beverage. These moves kept the company alive, preserving its skilled workforce and brand legacy.

When Prohibition ended, unlike many former competitors, the company was immediately ready to pivot back to brewing. Due to their readiness to adapt and overcome, Anheuser-Busch remains an icon, retaining its strong brand presence both in St. Louis and worldwide.

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This article was originally published in the March/April 2026 issue of Missouri Life.