By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Holladay Distillery in Weston is taking a big step toward its future, building its first rickhouse since the 1950s.
A rickhouse is a seven-story structure that holds from 10-to-12,000 barrels of bourbon as they age.
Holladay Vice President of Sales, Patrick Fee, says Holladay is proud to make Real Missouri Bourbon with whisky barrels made from Missouri wood.
“So all of our wood has to be 100% Missouri grown and built wood. One hundred percent of the corn has to be grown in Missouri and we’re lucky enough that we’ve got plenty of great corn right around us. So, we keep everything from a very simple footprint from farmers right up the road,” Fee tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post, describing the characteristics to qualify for Real Missouri Bourbon. “And then, of course, it must be completely distilled, aged, and bottled in Missouri as well.”
The Missouri legislature create the criteria for Real Missouri Bourbon in 2019.
Holladay Distillery of Weston is the oldest distillery west of the Mississippi River. The Holladay brothers, Ben Holladay and Major David Holladay, had traveled from Kentucky, following the path taken by Lewis and Clark, when they came upon a pure limestone spring that they knew would be perfect for making bourbon.
Ben Holladay would succeed in many business endeavors, including a stagecoach line from Missouri to the West Coast that eventually would become the Wells Fargo Express. But it is the distillery the brothers founded in 1856 that carries his name.
The distillery in Weston has changed hands a few times over the years, likely best known in this area as the old McCormick Distillery. The current owners bought the distillery in 1993, making a variety of spirits. Whisky made a comeback in 2015. Holladay Distillery was poised to take advantage, taking the strict steps necessary to make true American bourbon.
Fee says the demand for Ben Holladay Bourbon and its new Soft Red Wheat Bourbon has grown enough for the distiller to invest in a new rickhouse, the fourth on the Weston property.
“And these structures really are just giant wood structures that are wrapped in tin. They have windows across the floors and across the rows. We open them, basically, going into the spring and we shut them in the fall. And that is all that we do to do any sort of climate control,” Fee says. “These are seven-floor structures that we have here. They hold about 10-12,000 barrels.”
This isn’t a complicated process. It is, though, a thorough process.
“Imagine a giant structure filled with 10,000-plus barrels and they’re just rolled into place and they sit until they’re ready,” Fee says.
It will take nine months to construct the rickhouse. It will take at least six years to age the bourdon. It is worth all the expense and the time, according to Fee.
“Without those types of rickhouses you can still make bourbon,” Fee says. “You can throw it on a pallet and throw in an old metal building somewhere. You can call it bourbon, but the taste difference is drastic.”
Rickhouse A was built between 1900 and 1905 with Rickhouse B built in the 1930s. The last rickhouse, Rickhouse C, was built in the 1950s. Soon, Rickhouse D will take its place in the rolling hills outside Weston.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.