rieger whiskey tour

Sunday, 3.31.24, the distillery will be closed in observance of the Easter holiday.

rieger whiskey tour

THE HERITAGE TOUR

1 hour | $20 (21+); $10 (under 21 or non-drinker).

Join us for a one-hour guided tour of J. Rieger & Co., Kansas City’s original distillery, located in the historic Electric Park! Your tour concludes with a tasting of our four core spirits led by one of our knowledgeable guides.

rieger whiskey tour

THE WHISKEY TOUR

1 hour | $40 (21+ only).

This one-hour guided tour of J. Rieger & Co. features a deeper dive into our most prominent spirits programs – whiskey! Your tour concludes with a tasting of four of our favorite whiskeys led by a knowledgeable guide.

rieger whiskey tour

THE SIGNATURE TOUR

2 hours | $125 (21+ only).

A senior member of our team leads this in-depth, two-hour distillery tour that includes a curated gift bag, light appetizers, a tasting of seven whiskeys, and concludes with hand filling your own 200ml bottle of single barrel whiskey.

Advance booking is strongly encouraged as tours tend to sell out. For private tour inquiries, please email [email protected]

GETTING HERE:

• Our distillery is located at 2700 Guinotte Ave. in the Electric Park neighborhood of Kansas City.  (We are  NOT  at 1924 Main St. That is the historic Rieger Hotel building.  Read  about our shared history.) ‍ • Allow extra travel time as we are located directly next to active train tracks. Follow the Electric Park detour signs should you get stuck at a train crossing. • Complimentary parking is located on the west side of the building.

PREPARE FOR YOUR VISIT

(please read carefully).

  • Closed toe shoes are required – this is for your safety, as you will be on a very active distillery production floor. No exceptions will be made.
  • If you are not present at the time of your tour, a refund will not be issued.
  • Proper photo ID is required at the time of check-in
  • Please check in at our front desk no less than 15 minutes ahead of your scheduled tour time. All tours will begin promptly at their scheduled start time.
  • Photos are allowed to be taken throughout the building, but flash photography is prohibited.
  • All persons must sign a liability waiver before beginning the tour.
  • Be advised that visitors will be walking/standing for about 30 minutes during the tour. Our distillery is ADA accessible.
  • The barrel rickhouse and production floor are NOT climate controlled, and thus may be warm or cold depending on the season and the weather. Please plan accordingly.

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Distillery Tour

rieger whiskey tour

  • The tour will conclude with a tasting of our four core products led by one of our knowledgeable guides.
  • Entry/Admission - Kansas City
  • J. Rieger & Co., 2700 Guinotte Ave, Kansas City, MO 64120, USA Meet us at the front desk to check in your tour and receive your tour lanyard!
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Stroller accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Infant seats available
  • Transportation is wheelchair accessible
  • Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
  • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

Similar experiences

rieger whiskey tour

  • You'll start at J. Rieger & Co. 2700 Guinotte Ave, Kansas City, MO 64120, USA Meet us at the front desk to check in your tour and receive your tour lanyard! See address & details
  • 1 J. Rieger & Co. Stop: 60 minutes - Admission included Join us for a one-hour guided tour of J. Rieger & Co., Kansas City’s iconic distillery, located in the historic Electric Park neighborhood of the East Bottoms district. Discover the history of our brand, from its founding during the wild and raucous years when the city boasted “the wettest block in the world”, to its premature demise at the dawn of Prohibition, and eventual revival in 2014, nearly a century later. Enjoy extensive access to each phase of the distillation process, from grain to bottle. The tour will conclude with a tasting of our four core products led by one of our knowledgeable guides. Please note, reservations are not required but they are recommended. For reservations please see the link below. Read more
  • You'll return to the starting point

rieger whiskey tour

  • KCbloomer 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Visited the Monogram Lounge at J. Rieger before the Graham Parker concert! Visited the Monogram Lounge before a Knuckleheads Show. Tasty happy hour appetizers and drinks. Great service and delicious food. Excellent addition to the old electric park neighborhood. Nice to have a food option besides the deep fried cuisine at Knuckleheads! Read more Written May 7, 2024
  • AJ F 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Alex is awesome, so are the drinks! The bartender, Alex, was amazing. The food was top-notch, but the drinks were out of this world. Highly recommend going to the upstairs bar, asking for Alex, and trying to drink your way through the menu. You will not be disappointed. Read more Written December 2, 2023
  • HoneyShawnee 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Love it! Great place!! Jackson our server went above and beyond! Food was great! Atmosphere excellent. Love Sunday brunch and drinks. Read more Written January 17, 2021
  • U7635IKlaurak 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles Good times had by all.... This historical building is gorgeous! We booked a tour, but arrived as a large party a couple hours beforehand to enjoy food and bevs. The food was very good, and the cocktails superb. Our young server was very nice, but inexperienced. We had to chase him down for service a couple of times, and I noticed him hanging around the bar chatting up other servers like it was the water cooler at the office. That being said, we had a lovely time. The decor is gorgeous. The tour was very good, although our guide seemed to be new. He wasn’t very sure of himself on facts or answering questions. The coolest part of the tour is the 10 minute video showing the history of the Reiger and it’s roots to KC. Read more Written January 5, 2020
  • 245debrak 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Good times Looking to enjoy the afternoon? This place has good drinks and a slide to leave. I’d say the slide is a highlight. Read more Written December 28, 2019
  • hartmann19 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles Super venue Love the floors- all the couches & long bars. Private event on the 2nd floor in the Monogram Lounge. Downstairs is the exhibit of their timeline. The best is the huge slide you can take downstairs...Fun Fun! Great place for a party- once you finally find it! Read more Written December 8, 2019
  • Jcb1316 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Fun Tour! They just celebrated their 5th anniversary however, their history goes back to the 1800’s. Beautifully repurposed building with impressive decor and state of the art distillery. You will learn why Kansas City Whiskey is unique. Additionally their Vodka and Gin was excellent. The educational tour ended with a tasting in a nice conference room with interesting commentary from our guide. Read more Written December 6, 2019
  • Tim d 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Interesting and wonderful products If you're looking for a climate controlled tasting room and/or a tour in which the various attributes of a particular distillery are extolled, then this is not for you. This is a distillery that is clearly starting out. There is no tasting room. There is a tasting space (a board over two barrels covered with a black cloth, clothing and some other related products. We were there in the summer and the warehouse was open to the parking lot. One of the workers saw us standing there, informed us of the lack of tours, and then offered to give samples. We enjoyed the whiskey and the Caffe Amaro. (The latter is a liqueur flavored with botanicals and coffee - my wife, the coffee drinker in the family did not care for it, but it grew on me.) They also make distill left over beer from Boulevard Brewing Co., but only when Boulevard has it available. At the time we were there, there was none available. We enjoyed our brief time there. The whiskey is quite good and we bought a couple of bottles. If you were to go, it probably would be best to call ahead given the working nature of the location. This is NOT a location for small children. Read more Written August 17, 2018

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rieger whiskey tour

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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J. Rieger & Co. Begins Public Tours At Brand-New Kansas City Distillery

J. Rieger & Co. has opened a new distillery and visitor experience in Kansas City, part of an effort to revive the historic Electric Park neighborhood.

J. Rieger & Co. Begins Public Tours At Brand-New Kansas City Distillery

August 1, 2019 –––––– Isabella Vaccaro , , , ,

rieger whiskey tour

Take in the City with Our Kansas City Travel Guide

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Islay's Ardnahoe Distillery Releases Its First Whisky

Islay's Ardnahoe Distillery Releases Its First Whisky

Nick Offerman's Latest Lagavulin Edition is Out, This One Finished in Caribbean Rum Casks

Nick Offerman's Latest Lagavulin Edition is Out, This One Finished in Caribbean Rum Casks

Maestro Dobel's Three Latest Cask Finished Tequilas

Maestro Dobel's Three Latest Cask Finished Tequilas

J Rieger & Co

Hours updated 2 months ago

Photo of J Rieger & Co - Kansas City, MO, US. Indoor Electric Park Seating

Services Offered

Verified by Business

Virtual Consultations

Review Highlights

j-rieger-and-co-kansas-city photo MZAQAgrnDsqPxXbQyK3eRA

“ However, this review only covers the Monogram Lounge selections because that's where we visited this trip! ” in 31 reviews

j-rieger-and-co-kansas-city photo SB3iWO2d9-iuSEnBrvx53A

“ More for learning the history of Kansas City as it relates to alcohol than this distilleries process.... ” in 26 reviews

j-rieger-and-co-kansas-city photo IIrd2AjECZaBdyaC79TQXQ

“ On the left you'll find the slide and the stairs to go up to the bar / food or downstairs to the hey hey club. ” in 47 reviews

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Location & Hours

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2700 Guinotte Ave

Kansas City, MO 64120

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About the Business

J. Rieger & Co. is Kansas City’s Original Distillery. Established in 1887 by Austrian immigrant Jacob Rieger, J. Rieger & Co. was at one time the largest mail-order whiskey purveyor in the world. After helping Kansas City achieve the reputation of “Paris of the Plains,” the distillery was shut down by Prohibition, only to be reborn in 2014 when co-founders Andy Rieger, the great-great-great-grandson of Jacob Rieger, and world-renowned bartender Ryan Maybee resurrected the brand. Today our finely crafted spirits are racking up awards and gaining fans across the country and around the world. …

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Overall rating

184 reviews

Photo of Lexie P.

Absolutely love the Monogram Lounge in J Rieger - some of the best cocktails in KC and elevated appetizers to accompany. They rotate drinks but you truly cannot go wrong - the cheese board is my personal fav app. (Noting my fav drinks are The Usual, Route Sixty Spritz). Electric garden is a great outdoor area when the weather is nice, and you're looking for an easy drink and food. The drinks are my favorite on draft, not as good as the handcrafted cocktails upstairs, but amazing for a summer evening with friends. The fire pit and burger and fry food truck complete the atmosphere with occasional live music that does not disappoint. I've also done the J Rieger tour. Very interesting and fun to learn. I will say - my stomach was not made to handle a tasting of for straight liquors. However, all liquors are great quality and amazing drinks.

rieger whiskey tour

See all photos from Lexie P. for J Rieger & Co

Photo of Evelyn M.

This is a great tour! You have to have reservations and be sure to plan several days ahead ... not an easy tickets sometimes to get. Great 1 hour tour ... multi sensory.... The smells! Learning about not just whiskey but gin & vodka as well. Loved the history video at the beginning- a lot of info on KC itself! Wear closed toed shoes and the temp does change with the weather so plan accordingly. Really great tour guide- energy, sincere interest, informative and able to answer questions on the fly. Highly recommend!

rieger whiskey tour

See all photos from Evelyn M. for J Rieger & Co

Photo of Joe K.

This place offers so many things to do. As you walk in, they have the front counter to help you with all your needs. On the right hand side is the history of J.Rieger in Kansas City. On the left you'll find the slide and the stairs to go up to the bar / food or downstairs to the hey hey club. If you keep going from your left you'll go outside to the electric park. There are so many different things to do here that you'll be here for hours not to mention the slide! Every drink that I have had here along with food has been awesome. Service is always quick and helpful and everything comes out at a good pace. They also do tours that you can sign up ahead of time which is pretty neat and I believe they also offer memberships now. This is definitely a place to check out if you have not been here!

Photo of Sydney B.

We stopped in for the first time last night with friends. We had so much fun exploring this amazing space. There's so much to see and do here. We stopped in the electric park for a drink before heading to the monogram lounge. The atmosphere was fantastic and our servers were amazing. We plan to come back for a distillery tour in the future.

rieger whiskey tour

Electric Park Garden Bar is a blast. Outdoor bar, food truck, cool seating - booths, tables, swings, outdoor games, dog and kid friendly - what else do you need?? Alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks sold. Some of my faves were the: route sixty spritz, caffe' colada - a frozen drink, box car julep and giddy up float with ice cream. Food options include mostly burgers and chicken. Grill cheese, tenders and a salad round out the menu. Vegetarian and gluten options available. The vegetarian burger is a black bean patty with grilled onions and pimento cheese. I had the fried chicken Sammy. It was juicy and delicious. We also tried the chicken tenders and they were a bit tough. Get the truffle parm fries - yum. The regular fries are also very tasty. Staff are super friendly and helpful. If you're a first timer be sure to go to the tasting room and go upstairs to slide down the slide. This is a great spot for groups, couples and friends. Final observation: this spot is environmentally friendly using recyclable flatware and providing recycling and composting receptacles.

Route sixty spritz

Route sixty spritz

Photo of Kristen B.

This place was really interesting. Not a super great area, and listening to the train as we have cocktails is a little off. Inside, it's really fun atmosphere, and if you like whiskey, it's a fun experience. Three different places in one, including a speakeasy style bar. Would have loved some live music on a Saturday night! Our server Caleb was the highlight of our night!

rieger whiskey tour

We love to come to the chiefs watch parties at J Rieger. This is one of my new favorite places! The kids loved it too... kc wolf, the cheerleaders and raffles make the watch party the place to be! We loved it so much we bought all our friends gift cards to come for Xmas! I highly recommend checking out the history on the main level and doing a tour of the brewery.

At the monarch bar during a chiefs watch party

At the monarch bar during a chiefs watch party

Photo of Kyla B.

Wonderful Game Day experience. They have raffles and great game day specials. They recently added the Electric Park, an outdoor venue. I've loved watching the game here but now it's even better. We got some great food and drinks on special. If you are looking for a game day spot this is a great one! I did give it four stars because the screens inside and outside are off. If they fix that, 5 stars definitely. One is on TV. The outside was hooked to a computer. Food and drinks were delicious. Top quality ingredients. LOTS of seating options.Bathrooms we're specialists. They had a family bathroom with a baby changing station. Outside is family friendly!

rieger whiskey tour

See all photos from Kyla B. for J Rieger & Co

Photo of Marissa S.

Visited Electric Park with a couple of friends and had a great time. On a Saturday, it was super busy. Nearly every seat was filled, however the line for the bar/food truck were painless. There's also a QR code assigned to each table, so you can order drinks right to your seat. The drink/food selections were pretty decent, although the frozen drink machine wasn't working during our visit -bummer! Especially enjoyed the seasonal g&t, the gardenia, and the truffle parm fries. Overall, this is a great garden bar experience and I love the history behind Electric Park. There's tons of seating options, from a swing set table, to fire pits, and lounge seats, but note they do fill up fast. I do wish there were more shaded spots/umbrellas available because the sun beaming down does get pretty hot - anytime a group got up from a shady table, people would rush over to snag the spot lol. Despite the heat, our drinks kept us cool and refreshed, and the atmosphere was uplifting and inviting. I'm curious to see what this patio is like in the evening and I can't wait to go back!

rieger whiskey tour

If you're interested in the history of J. Rieger and the distilling process, this would be a fun tour for you. The 1-hr long tour starts with a short documentary and then takes you through their production process, where history and functionality are shared by the tour guide. The tour ends with a spirits sampling in the Tasting Room.

rieger whiskey tour

See all photos from Grace Y. for J Rieger & Co

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The Signature Tour

The Signature Tour

  • Duration: 120 Minutes (approx.)
  • Location : Kansas City, MO
  • Product code: P2S10D

Offered once a month, the Signature Tour will take you on the journey of resurrecting J. Rieger & Co. and is led by a senior member of the team who was there to witness it all (Co-founder Ryan Maybee and Master Distiller Nathan Perry are frequent hosts!). Focusing primarily on our ever-expanding whiskey lineup, this tour offers an in-depth look at our distillation process, barrel aging and cask finishing program, as well as our unwavering dedication to preserving, sharing, and continuing to develop the pre-prohibition style of rectified whiskey. Your tasting experience will include light appetizers in addition to samples of new make whiskey, Kansas City Whiskey, a selection of Private Stock Cask Finished Whiskey, six-year-old Bottled in Bond Bourbon, six-year-old Bottled in Bond Rye, a selection of our limited-edition Monogram Whiskey, and a rotating cask strength “Rickhouse Exclusive.” All Signature Tour guests will hand fill a 200ml bottle of the “Rickhouse Exclusive” selection and will receive a curated gift bag to commemorate their experience.

Prices do not include tax and gratuity.

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One Missouri Company Puts the Whiskey Before the Distillery. And It's Really Paying Off.

rieger whiskey tour

It started as just a distillery, making and bottling whiskey in Kansas City, Mo. Yet in early July, J. Rieger & Co. will expand into a boozy theme park, bursting at the seams with multiple bars, event spaces, spots for daytime coffee and coworking, and notably a 40-foot-long metal slide to hurtle revelers from a second-level bar to a ground-floor gift shop.

This is exactly the opposite of how most craft distilleries ramp up nowadays. Many open sprawling guest experiences designed to bring in income while waiting for whiskey or other spirits to age—in essence, running before they walk.

“Honestly, it was never in our immediate business plan,” says Lucy Rieger, the brand director for J. Rieger & Co., of the expansion. “But since day one, it’s the number-one thing we get asked: Can we come see it? Do you have tours?”

In fact, she says, when the brand launched in 2014 as an offbeat Kansas City whiskey , meaning it was made with a measure of sherry, the owners deliberately avoided setting up a visitor center. They worried that a “guest experience” would signal that they weren’t serious about the spirit. “We didn’t want people to associate us with the building,” says Rieger. “We wanted to train people to buy us at the store like any other brand; we wanted to focus on the distribution side.”

Five years later, the portfolio has stacked up strong reviews, including Caffè amaro, an unusual amaro made with coffee (regarded as a bartender favorite); Midwestern dry gin, a London dry style made with gin legend Tom Nichol, formerly of Tanqueray; and Monogram, a limited-edition whiskey finished in sherry butts, now out of stock.

“Now we have a good legitimate brand, and [a visitor center] won’t distract from the brand; it will enhance it,” says Rieger. “We sacrificed those retail margins upfront, but we were thinking long-term.”

Sneak Peek of the Space

A hard-hat tour of the space-in-progress reveals how far the enterprise has come since 2009, when bartender Ryan Maybee opened Manifesto, a speakeasy-style space beneath Kansas City’s Rieger . Back then, he had spotted a long-faded billboard on the wall outside advertising “Kansas City whiskey.” A research deep-dive led Maybee to discover that the family behind the hotel, starting with Jacob Rieger, had once operated a distillery, as well as the largest mail-order whiskey house in the country, both shuttered during Prohibition.

When the hotel opened the following year, Andy Rieger, the great-great-great-grandson of Jacob Rieger, stopped by to wish Maybee luck and received an earful about his family’s whiskey biz. Though he lived in Dallas at the time, where he was working in the investment banking industry, he eventually moved back to Kansas City, where they partnered on building the brand.

When the J. Rieger brand launched in 2014, it was never meant to be regional. The bottles were almost immediately visible on the shelves at high-end bars and liquor stores in major metropolitan markets, even when supply was limited. It helped to have a well-regarded bartender on the start-up team. Looking back, that quietly built a cult status that a huge, splashy launch wouldn’t have accomplished.

Today, the payoff is evident. When completed, the new expanded facility will quintuple production and double warehouse capacity to hold 5,000 barrels. Two new stills have been brought in, including a soaring 28-foot-high column still that makes a striking centerpiece for the production facility. Production is slated to start June 10, a full month before the distillery opens to the public.

To accomplish this, Reiger purchased the historic Heim Brewery Bottling building, built in 1901, located next door to the existing distillery. The combined space encompasses 60,000 square feet. In the middle of the warehouse, Rieger is erecting a climate-controlled, glass-walled dining room called Jacob’s Barrel, where guests can host events with a 360-degree view of the barrels. It’s a “fun little hidden gem,” says Lucy Rieger. Other highlights will include a hands-on historical exhibit, a “filling station” for guests to bottle Kansas City whiskey, a tasting room with a white marble bar that looks into the distillery production area, and a 20-seat conference room.

Bring on the Bars

But perhaps fittingly, for a distillery driven by a bartender’s curiosity, the in-house bar program is expected to be the primary draw. Andrew Olsen, formerly of Bluestem , was brought in as beverage director. On the second floor, the Monogram Lounge will overlook the distillery production area and will focus on draft cocktails made with Rieger spirits. The sprawling windowed space can accommodate up to 200 people (and will be open for coworking and coffee service during daytime hours), with eight taps to pour drinks kegged in the basement area. This is also where the famous slide can transport guests to the gift shop below.

In the basement, the much smaller, deliberately darker Hey! Hey! Club will feature live jazz acts, a fireplace and cocktails made with a wide range of spirits (not just Rieger products). Cocktails on draft won’t be served here, but K.C. Bier Co. is crafting an exclusive Heim beer, a German-style lager replica that will be on draft and will be the only beer served. “It’s a nod to where we came from,” says Rieger.

A Clinebell machine and a dedicated ice-cutting room in the basement will provide ice for all the bars on the site, which eventually will include a third bar space: a massive outdoor beer-garden-like space that can accommodate a whopping 500 people. Festooned with vintage light bulbs, the outdoor space will be called the Electric Park Garden Bar. The name pays homage to the Electric Park amusement park constructed by Heim in 1899, adjacent to its brewery. (It was later moved across town and is noted for inspiring a young Walt Disney.)

Of note, Rieger is petitioning to have the neighborhood, currently called East Bottoms, renamed Electric Park District, as a way to help spur development around the distillery. It’s impressive enough to recognize that a whiskey brand helped build the distillery and a sprawling “guest experience” around it. But it’s downright astonishing to think of whiskey as a foundation for rebuilding an entire neighborhood.

“In 10 years, it will really be something,” says Rieger in a wistful tone, looking out a second-floor window still finely coated with a layer of construction zone sawdust. “We have a very long-term vision for this.”

rieger whiskey tour

J. Rieger & Co. 2023 Monogram Kansas City Whiskey Solera Reserve

OVERALL RATING

Whiskey Review: J. Rieger & Co. 2023 Monogram Kansas City Whiskey Solera Reserve

  • by Suzanne Bayard
  • August 29, 2023

Tasting Notes:

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies , influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking  the buy link  in this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.  

J. Rieger’s in Kansas City, Missouri, is reviving a pre-Prohibition style of whiskey production and experimenting with aging practices from historic Sherry production. Today, I’m sampling the latest edition of their Sherry-influenced whiskey: the J. Rieger & Co. 2023 Monogram Kansas City Whiskey Solera Reserve .

We are living in an exciting moment in American whiskey production: entrepreneurs are reviving old distilleries that were shut somewhere between Prohibition and the mid-20th century. The fruits of these labors are coming to our Glencairns now. This isn’t just a Kentucky phenomenon; states less commonly associated with American whiskey are experiencing this renewal, too.

In 2014, Missouri was able to boast of its own revival experience when J. Rieger’s reopened after almost a century. Originally founded in 1887 and shuttered in 1919, a group that includes a descendent of the original founder, Jacob Rieger, and local bartender and restaurateur, Ryan Maybee , reopened J. Rieger’s. Dave Pickerell of Maker’s Mark, who passed away in 2018, provided guidance to the pair.

Before Prohibition, distilleries were taxed on spirits when distilled instead of when released to the public. Cash flow demanded whiskeys be released young, so distillers invented ways to give the impression of age. According to the distillery , one method was to add oxidized Sherry before bottling. To mimic this style, J. Rieger uses a method they call “Kansas City Style” for their flagship bottling. The distillery ages a blend of whiskeys for at least four years and adds William & Humbert’s 15-year-old Sherry. This Sherry is a lightly sweetened oloroso. This style of Sherry is fully oxidized and full-bodied with lush notes of dried fruits, toasted nuts, and bruised apples.

As a further twist, J. Rieger’s began finishing the same base that makes up the flagship in a Sherry solera system using Sherry casks. A traditional Sherry solera system is a form of fractional blending. The oldest barrels are where the liquid is drawn off for bottling. Only part of the contents is drawn off, and barrels are topped up using liquid from the next youngest barrels. This continues through however many levels are used. The youngest barrels receive the new vintage. In the case of this whiskey, the youngest finishing barrels receive the new stock of aged whiskey to join the solera.

The 2023 release includes a “blend of straight bourbon, straight rye, and light corn whiskey” from the distillery’s solera started in 2015. Finishing took place for up to four years in 500-liter oloroso Sherry casks. They sourced ten of these 50-100 year-old casks from the production line of Bodegas Williams & Humbert Oloroso Especial, the same Sherry used in their flagship bottling.

Rieger’s 2023 Monogram Whiskey review

Tasting Notes: J. Rieger & Co. 2023 Monogram Kansas City Whiskey Solera Reserve

Vital Stats: Aged in new American oak and finished for up to four years in 50-100 year-old oloroso Sherry casks, 50% ABV, mash bill: undisclosed, SRP $130/ 750ml bottle.

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Appearance: This is moderate amber in color with a brown undertone.

Nose: On first pour, the nose is sweet and caramel-forward. I pick up notes of snickerdoodle cookies with mini marshmallows, maple syrup, and graham crackers. The golden-brown-and-delicious notes start to fade within a few minutes. Since I tasted this blind, I was suddenly left wondering if I had mixed up glasses. This completely changed in the glass from bold caramel, to buttered popcorn, to sulfur and shoe polish. Revisiting a few days later, I found this to be profoundly impacted by the Sherry. It dominates layers of the aromatics, though suggestions of the base whiskey peek through occasionally.

Palate: On the palate, this is moderate in body with moderate astringency and a fiery finish. The flavors are mostly from the Sherry: toasted pecans, oxidized apple core, yellow peaches, and toasted coconut. Sipping, the shoe polish note comes through again with light notes of orchard fruits, lemon zest, and golden raisins.

The finish is long and lingering with notes of yellow plums, graham crackers, pencil shavings, and campfire smoke. Fortunately, the sulfur note has blown off after I allowed the bottle to sit undisturbed for several days. There was a thick swirl of precipitates in my sample bottle that settled to the bottom. Usually, I am not bothered by sediment, but this significantly altered the taste.

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COMMENTS

  1. Tours

    THE HERITAGE TOUR. 1 HOUR | $20 (21+); $10 (UNDER 21 OR NON-DRINKER) Join us for a one-hour guided tour of J. Rieger & Co., Kansas City's original distillery, located in the historic Electric Park! Your tour concludes with a tasting of our four core spirits led by one of our knowledgeable guides. BOOK A TOUR.

  2. The Whiskey Tour

    The Whiskey Tour. From USD $40.00. Duration: 60 Minutes (approx.) Location: Kansas City, MO. Product code: PQC0B4. With limited weekly offerings, The Whiskey Tour includes the same introduction to the history and resurrection of J. Rieger & Co. as The Heritage Tour with a deeper dive into our most prominent spirits program - whiskey. Discover ...

  3. The Heritage Tour

    The Heritage Tour. From USD $20.00. Duration: 60 Minutes (approx.) Location: Kansas City, MO. Product code: PKDC0U. Meet us in the historic Electric Park neighborhood to discover the story of Kansas City's original distillery, J. Rieger & Co. Discover the history of our brand, from its founding in the 1880s to its premature demise at the dawn ...

  4. J. Rieger & Co. Reservations

    The Whiskey Tour. This one-hour guided tour of J. Rieger & Co. features a deeper dive into our most prominent spirits programs - whiskey! Your tour concludes with a 15-minute tasting of four of our favorite whiskeys led by a knowledgeable guide. Duration: 60 Minutes (approx.)

  5. J Rieger Distillery Tour & Tasting (Kansas City's Original Distillery

    Enjoy tastings of whiskey, vodka, gin, and more on the tour or in the Monogram Lounge with their impressive array of craft cocktail samplings. A first-time visit to J Rieger & Co. should include a tour and tasting, a visit to the museum, and then heading upstairs to the Monogram Lounge to enjoy a cocktail and food.

  6. J. Rieger & Co.

    Welcome to Kansas City's historic & iconic Distillery. We planted our flag in KC in 1887, only to meet an early demise in 1919 with the onset of Prohibition. 95 years later, two ambitious young guys refused to let Prohibition be our final fate. Our 60,000 square foot distillery offers daily distillery tours, multiple bars, space for private ...

  7. 2024 Distillery Tour provided by J. Rieger & Co.

    2700 Guinotte Ave, Kansas City, MO 64120, USA. Meet us at the front desk to check in your tour and receive your tour lanyard! See address & details. 1. J. Rieger & Co. Stop: 60 minutes - Admission included. Join us for a one-hour guided tour of J. Rieger & Co., Kansas City's iconic distillery, located in the historic Electric Park ...

  8. J. Rieger & Co. Begins Public Tours At Brand-New ...

    August 1, 2019 ------ Isabella Vaccaro. Kansas City's Electric Park neighborhood has a new whiskey attraction. J. Rieger & Co. Distillery starts public tours and tastings today after debuting on July 12. Within the 60,000-square-foot facility are all the accoutrements for whiskey-making: mash cooker, fermenters, four different stills.

  9. J RIEGER & CO

    Specialties: J. Rieger & Co. is Kansas City's Original Distillery. Established in 1887 by Austrian immigrant Jacob Rieger, J. Rieger & Co. was at one time the largest mail-order whiskey purveyor in the world. After helping Kansas City achieve the reputation of "Paris of the Plains," the distillery was shut down by Prohibition, only to be reborn in 2014 when co-founders Andy Rieger, the ...

  10. Kansas City's Distilleries and Distilling Scene

    J. Rieger & Co. J. Rieger's 2014 revival has made it a mainstay in the spirits community, thanks in part to the sherry-blended Kansas City Whiskey and other top-notch offerings such as vodka, gin, coffee liqueur and even barbecue sauce (made in collaboration with 'cue mainstay Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que).

  11. Check out J. Rieger & Co's New Distillery

    And in 2014, they relaunched J. Rieger & Co., Kansas City's first distillery since Prohibition, with the release of "Rieger's Kansas City Whiskey," a unique style of American Whiskey that pays tribute to J. Rieger & Co.'s history. After four years of distilling and growing demand in Kansas City and throughout the country, our need for ...

  12. J. Rieger and Co.

    Bars, Restaurant, and More. The Tasting Room is where the tour ends and is a great place to grab a cocktail. Check out the J. Rieger wallpaper. Monogram Lounge is a restaurant upstairs where we shared appetizers for a meal.We made reservations. The Electric Park Garden Bar is open seasonally.The Hey! Hey! Club is an underground cocktail experience.. Don't miss the gift shop and historical exh

  13. The Signature Tour

    Offered once a month, the Signature Tour will take you on the journey of resurrecting J. Rieger & Co. and is led by a senior member of the team who was there to witness it all (Co-founder Ryan Maybee and Master Distiller Nathan Perry are frequent hosts!). ... Focusing primarily on our ever-expanding whiskey lineup, this tour offers an in-depth ...

  14. J. Rieger & Co.: A Tour through History

    A Tour through History. The Made in KC Explore editorial team goes on a behind-the-scenes tour of J. Rieger & Co.'s distillery. The name alone speaks for itself, especially to those who know its influence in Kansas City. From the Rieger Hotel and Manifesto in the Crossroads District to the countless bars that stock the specialty spirits on ...

  15. J. Rieger Is All About the Whiskey

    Rendering of distillery entrance and gift shop. Sneak Peek of the Space . A hard-hat tour of the space-in-progress reveals how far the enterprise has come since 2009, when bartender Ryan Maybee opened Manifesto, a speakeasy-style space beneath Kansas City's Rieger.Back then, he had spotted a long-faded billboard on the wall outside advertising "Kansas City whiskey."

  16. Visit J. Rieger & Co.

    Visit J. Rieger & Co., Kansas City, Missouri. 1,419 likes · 444 were here. Located in the historic Electric Park district of Kansas City, just 3 minutes...

  17. Whiskey Review: J. Rieger & Co. 2023 Monogram Kansas City Whiskey

    Tasting Notes: J. Rieger & Co. 2023 Monogram Kansas City Whiskey Solera Reserve. Vital Stats: Aged in new American oak and finished for up to four years in 50-100 year-old oloroso Sherry casks, 50% ABV, mash bill: undisclosed, SRP $130/ 750ml bottle. Appearance: This is moderate amber in color with a brown undertone.

  18. Supper Club in Baton Rouge celebrates second anniversary

    Albarez says it's reminiscent of an egg white whiskey sour. A lemon drop martini was also added, made with Meyer Lemonade, limoncello liqueur, lemon juice and topped with a thyme sprig.