^ vintage spaces
NOT YOUR DADDY’S
New Crossroads Distillery Crafts Artisanal Spirits in Renovated Stable by Rhiannon Ross
I n the late 19th century, at 17th and Cherry Streets, the yeasty aroma of bread rising from the corner bakery permeated the pre-dawn air and mingled with the pungent odor of delivery horses waiting in the two-story, red-brick stable across the street. The days of equine-delivery bread service have long passed in Kansas City. Today, in the trendy, up-and-coming neighborhood known as the East Crossroads district, one can still catch a whiff of fermentation. This time, it rises from an unlikely space: the renovated, former stable at 1734 Cherry St., the home of Lifted Spirits Distillery, which opened its doors in November. But this ain’t your grandpa’s backwoods’ moonshine. Nor is it your daddy’s commercially manufactured alcohol. Here, business partners Kyle Claypool and Michael Stuckey craft artisanal gin, vodka, whiskey and traditional absinthe. “We’re melding the old tradition of distillery with the science of it,” Claypool says. “Science proved there’s a better way.” Claypool, 30, ambles across the painted concrete floors of the 10,000-square-foot, renovated space in tennis shoes. A lanky man who holds a degree in marketing, he gives a tour of the first-floor distillery with the energy of a long-legged colt. Nearby, in a small office — perhaps a one-time horse stall –—Stuckey, 33, sits tucked
under his desk. A former pastor and real estate agent with a degree in theology, he scans a computer screen. Fittingly, Stuckey came up with the company name. “We’re creating community,” he says, “a place where people can feel uplifted.” Both men are married fathers boasting four children between them, all under the age of four (and one a newborn). They met one another about eight years ago through their wives — Gina Clay- pool and Bekah Stuckey— who have been besties since high school. The couples met for weekly card and board games. Claypool, who experimented with infusing crafted spirits, would share his intoxicat- ing concoctions. His creations were popular; his passion real. Before long, the entrepreneurs and their wives began to ask, “Why not open a distillery?” The search for a space was a short one. In 2014, when Claypool and Stuckey found the building on Cherry, they fell in love with its good “bones,” location and history. However, more than simple renovation was needed. For the past 35 years, the building was used to house overflow storage for Architectural Salvage, a reclamation and antique store in Kansas City’s West Crossroads.
14 VINTAGEKC WINTER 2016
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