who we are
what’s up with the ‘wood hat’?
gary hinegardner, owner/founder, is a man of many hats quite literally. beyond the distillery he creates and wears hats made of real wood! A true unique skill learned from the concepts inventor, johannes michelsen (bio). check them out, in all their glory, while you are visiting the tasting room at wood hat spirits in new florence, mo!
wood-fired distilling
carbon-neutral:
we are the only legal wood-fired distillery (that we know of). We burn wood chips which are scrap wood from a local stave mill. The fire heats a specialized heat-transfer oil to 375 degrees which is pumped through insulated pipes into coils in the still to cook or distill the mash.
unique wood elements: Barrels are a key element in the flavor of whiskey. We use 3 types of barrel treatment, 3 types of secondary barrel finishes and two sizes of barrels. Most of our barrels are made of staves that have been air dried for years which removes some of the more harsh tanins.
our corn