ended with Weglarz taking solace in an old cliché. “You know, you only live once. And I wanted mine to be incred- ible. But incredible isn’t the same for everyone. StilL 630 is MY version of incredible.”
location that was the best fit with the least red tape. “In Missouri you can operate a distillery, have a tasting room, sell bottles from your tasting room, and you can distribute, with the proper licenses.” Currently, the distillery’s distribution footprint includes the greater St. Louis area and a few places in Columbia, Missouri. You can find their spirits in 192 bars, restaurants and liquor stores in the region, and Weglarz points out that they are working at capacity keeping up with their current demand. “We planned to have already expanded by now, but customers are buying up everything we are making as it is. So that’s our focus for the moment. But we do plan to expand in the near future.” The expansion will include an Illinois-based on-line retailer that will make their spirits available in surrounding states such as Illinois, Indiana and Michigan later in 2018. St. Louis’ central location will surely prove to be advanta- geous for future product distribution, but that’s not all the region has to offer. Weglarz explains that their oak barrels are sourced from some of the best-rated world-class oak, right from their backyard. “One of the biggest things for us is our American Oak barrels. The best American oak in the whole world grows right here.” Alongside the Mis- souri-grown and manufactured oak barrels are the locally made pot stills. Combine all this with fresh Missouri water (once voted best water in the country at a recent mayoral convention) and the amenable St. Louis weather, and the formula for distilling fine spirits is condition-perfect. The distillery’s current focus is on producing whiskey, rum and gin. Weglarz pulls no punches on the reason for con- centrating on these spirits. “It’s because I’m in charge and that’s what I like!” Arguments should be few and far between because the awards are piling up on StilL 630’s mantle. In fact, the spirits have won a total of 36 medals in regional and national com- petitions, including a number of “Best in Class” awards. “We have won the ‘Best Rye Whiskey under two years old’ for our Rallypoint, we’ve won the best in category bourbon, alternative spirits… and the list goes on. But in 2016, for the American Craft Spirits Association awards, they chose Double Barrel Rallypoint as the best whiskey in the country!
A distillery wasn’t necessarily the original target for Weglarz.
As he was zeroing in on his version of incredible, he wandered along a winding path that started with the now booming craft brewing movement. “I got turned on to the brewing industry in 2008-09, but it seemed like every- body and their brother was opening up a brewery. But we noticed that people were distilling craft spirits as well. And I thought that was even cooler than beer.” “I always wanted to be my own boss, start a company and build a legacy.” A bit of distilling research and backyard practice brought forth the confidence to go ahead and open up a distilling business. With support at home from his wife and a business plan in hand, Weglarz found an old “gourmet restaurant” (it was actually a fast-food joint in a previous life) in downtown St. Louis and started up operations in 2012. The first products rolled out the door in 2013, and StilL 630 has been selling spirits and winning awards ever since. For someone who was brought up in Michigan, worked in the Carolinas and traded futures in Chicago, Weglarz could’ve planted his flag anywhere. So why choose to set up camp in the shadow of the Gateway Arch? “Part of the overall plan was, we wanted to start a family. But we didn’t think we could do that in downtown Chicago. We wanted a yard and a garage and those types of things… we looked around, but Missouri kind of took the cake because of the more lenient liquor laws.” It’s no secret that varying liquor laws across state lines can put undo administrative strain on distilleries and breweries. Case in point, at the time StilL 630 was setting up shop, you couldn’t operate a distillery in Indiana without owning a working farm license. Weglarz shopped around for a
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JANUARY 2018
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