Lifted Spirits Distillery

In a converted stable in Kansas City's Crossroads district, Lifted Spirits Distillery has spent nearly a decade proving that a whiskey-saturated city still has room for a distiller who leads with gin. Since 2016, the small-batch operation at 1734 Cherry St. has built its reputation on vapor-distilled botanicals and barrel-finished spirits, earning national recognition along the way while quietly building out a rye whiskey program that rewards patience.

History & Heritage

Lifted Spirits opened in 2016 as a small-batch distiller in Kansas City's Crossroads, founded by Michael Stuckey, who serves as Founder and CEO. Derrick Neuner joined as Chief Operating Officer as the company grew. Where most Kansas City distillers of the era chased bourbon and rye from the outset, Lifted Spirits carved out different territory, focusing early attention on gin in a market saturated with whiskey. That bet paid off: at the 2022 New York International Spirits Competition, Lifted Spirits was named Missouri's best gin distillery, with its Supernova Navy Strength Gin taking home a Double Gold Medal and its Bold Gin earning Gold. The distillery still operates out of its original converted stable, where the still remains, in the company's own words, central to its ongoing experimentation. As of July 2026, Lifted Spirits Distillery is owned and operated by Lifted Spirits Distillation, LLC, the entity named on its official site, with no acquisition, sale, or ownership change on record since founding.

The Whiskey

Lifted Spirits' whiskey program centers on rye, built around barrel finishing rather than a single flagship mash bill. Madeira Cask Finished Rye Whiskey begins as a rye-forward whiskey aged a minimum of three years in white oak, then re-barreled for three to six months in Madeira casks, landing at 92.2 proof (46.1% ABV). A limited Triple Cask Finished Rye Whiskey pushes the concept further: aged in Missouri white oak, then finished across both Madeira and Absinthe casks, bottled at 51.34% ABV. The distillery also produces a Barrel Reserve Brandy, aged seven years in Missouri white oak in collaboration with KC Wineworks, showing the same appetite for cross-category cask experimentation that defines its rye releases. Alongside the whiskey and brandy, Lifted Spirits' gins remain the technical backbone of the house: Bold Gin uses balanced traditional and vapor distillation across 17 botanicals including juniper, cubeb, timut peppercorn, and makrut lime leaf; Bright Gin vapor-distills 11 botanicals for a citrus-forward profile; and Supernova Navy Strength Gin concentrates 11 botanicals to 114.2 proof. The distillery also makes Absinthe Verte, which it describes as the first absinthe distilled in Kansas City, built on grand and Roman wormwood, fennel seed, anise seed, and chamomile at 136 proof.

Why It Matters

Lifted Spirits matters to Kansas City's whiskey story precisely because it didn't start as a whiskey story. A distillery that built its name and its 2022 national gin awards on vapor-distilled botanicals brought that same technical rigor to rye, using Madeira and absinthe cask finishing to give its whiskey a flavor signature no other Kansas City producer is chasing. For those who appreciate good whiskey, the Madeira Cask Finished Rye and Triple Cask Finished Rye represent a distinctly Kansas City approach: rye whiskey shaped as much by finishing barrels sourced through the city's own wine and spirits community as by traditional mash bill choices.

Visiting the Distillery

Lifted Spirits offers guided distillery tours that walk guests through the still, the botanical and flavor science behind its gins and absinthe, and a tasting of finished spirits. Tours accommodate 2 to 20 guests; minors may attend when accompanied by an adult, though tastings are limited to guests 21 and older with valid ID. The tasting room, at 1734 Cherry St. in the Crossroads, is open Wednesday and Thursday from 5pm to midnight, Friday from 5pm to 3am, Saturday from 2pm to 3am, and Sunday from 2pm to 8pm, closed Monday and Tuesday, with a happy hour running Wednesday through Sunday from 5pm to 7pm.