Wood Hat Spirits: “From Genetics to Glass”

Gary Hinegardner is the founder and owner of Wood Hat Spirits, a craft distillery in New Florence, Missouri, known for its innovative approach and deep local roots. A true artisan, Gary not only distills award-winning spirits using wood-fired, carbon-neutral methods but also handcrafts and wears hats made of real wood—a signature touch that reflects his creativity and passion. At Wood Hat Spirits, he combines heirloom corn varieties, unique barrel techniques, and sustainable practices to produce distinctly flavorful whiskeys that honor Missouri’s land and craftsmanship. DeliveryRank features an exclusive interview.

What inspired you to create a distillery that prioritizes a "field to glass" philosophy, using locally grown grains and regionally sourced materials throughout the production process?

I’ve always found it fascinating—when you’re the first to do something, there’s no blueprint to follow. No precedent, no established path, not even a name for what you’re creating. You don’t always know exactly what you're building until it starts to take shape. For me, the vision was simple: I wanted to do it locally. I’ve lived here since 1974, and I wasn’t interested in moving to Kentucky just to make bourbon. For years, people told me, “You have to make bourbon in Kentucky.” That simply isn’t true. I knew I wanted to create something rooted right here, in my own community.

Another guiding principle came from my background. I’ve worked around the world—in places like India and Russia. So I kept asking myself: why are we making whiskey from corn that nobody would eat? The industry typically uses yellow dent corn, which is really grown for livestock feed and ethanol, not for flavor or nutrition. I decided I wanted to make whiskey from corn that people actually eat—corn with real culinary value and deep cultural roots.

Sustainability was equally important to me. I wanted to make whiskey in a way that was environmentally positive. Years ago, I was part of a group whose motto was, “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.” That ethos stuck with me. So when I learned I could use scrap wood from a local stave mill to fire the still—essentially repurposing waste to create energy—I jumped on it. It allowed me to create a wood-fired, carbon-neutral distillery, something I believe no one else has done legally, at least to my knowledge.

I’d also worked with Independent Stave Company, the largest barrel maker in the world, so I was familiar with the byproducts of barrel-making. I’d helped others switch to renewable fuels, and I knew this process could be part of a better model for distilling—one that respects natural resources.

And then there was the name. Most distilleries tend to follow a pattern: two short, punchy words—think Jim Beam or Maker’s Mark. My name, Gary Hinegardner, didn’t quite fit that mold. But I had this unique hobby: making and wearing hats out of real wood. That became part of my identity. So I called the distillery Wood Hat Spirits. It felt right—personal, memorable, and true to the spirit of what I was doing.

I didn’t know exactly where I’d land when I started, but I’m absolutely happy with where it’s gone.

As for the whiskey itself, we use a mix of heirloom corns—blue, red, white—sometimes blending them, sometimes letting each variety shine on its own. For example, our "All-American" whiskey combines all three colors. We grow the corn separately, ferment, age, and distill it individually, then blend it carefully to achieve a smooth, layered flavor. Each color brings something different: red corn offers a spicy, peppery finish; white corn is clean and mild; blue corn is rich and complex with naturally occurring anthocyanins—powerful antioxidants responsible for its vibrant color.

And that’s the thing: people have been eating blue corn for thousands of years, from the American Southwest to Central and South America. Entire cultures have chosen it for its flavor and health benefits. So I thought, why not make whiskey out of a corn people actually enjoy eating?

That’s how Wood Hat Spirits came to be—not just a distillery, but a different way of thinking about what whiskey can be.

You've chosen to work with heirloom corn varieties like Hopi blue and Bloody Butcher red corn. How do these unique grains shape the flavor and character of your spirits, and what goes into maintaining a sustainable supply of them?

One of the biggest challenges I faced was the supply chain—or, more accurately, the absence of one. No one around here grows blue corn or red corn varieties suitable for making high-quality whiskey. So, in order to make the kind of whiskies I envisioned, I had to become the farmer myself.

We now manage every step of the process. I own the farm equipment, we’ve got the acreage, and just last week we finished planting this season’s crop. We grow the corn, we harvest it, and we take care to store it under optimal conditions. Because here’s the truth: you can still make bad whiskey from good corn, but you absolutely cannot make good whiskey from bad corn. Quality has to begin in the field—and continue through every step after.

That means we had to build everything from scratch—literally. There was no supply chain to plug into, no existing infrastructure for what we were trying to do. You mentioned “grain-to-glass,” but honestly, we’re in a category beyond that. There’s not even language for what we’re really doing. If I had to name it, I’d say we’re genetics-to-glass. That’s how deep we go.

We now own the genetics behind the corn we distill. From this point forward, we’re no longer buying corn varieties developed by someone else. In fact, we’ve created a breeding bank that’s over a hundred years in the making. In 2022 alone, we experimented with 70 different blue and red corn crosses. In one year, we planted and evaluated 128 different corn forms.

At a certain point, I realized: we’ve been developing corn for fuel, for livestock feed—for everything except flavor. So why not breed a variety specifically for whiskey? It sounds obvious, but no one’s done it. So I did. And as far as I know, we’re the only distillery that owns and controls its own corn genetics specifically for the purpose of making whiskey.

That’s where true innovation begins. You can't go out into the market and just buy what doesn't exist. No one else is going to develop it for you—there’s no demand, no market. So we had to create both the product and the market for it, simultaneously.

It’s a complex process, and it requires a wide range of skills—many of which are rare and hard to find in one place. But that’s what makes it so rewarding. We’re not just making whiskey. We’re pioneering a new model of how whiskey can be made.

Operating the only wood-fired still of its kind in the country is a rare commitment. How does this traditional method affect the distillation process and contribute to the final expression of your whiskeys?

It doesn’t really affect the whiskey at all—that’s the thing. People often ask about whether using renewable energy impacts the final product, but the answer is no, not directly. In the distilling process, you're dealing with a lot of energy use—big heating and cooling cycles. I spent years trying to help others integrate renewables, like burning scrap wood from barrel-making as fuel for boilers. So I already had a background in this space.

The way I see it, I’m not poking a hole in the earth to pull up oil, coal, or natural gas. I’m using what’s already here—scrap wood, biomass—renewable resources that would eventually break down and release CO2 anyway. All I’m doing is redirecting that natural resource into something meaningful first—making whiskey—before it completes that carbon cycle.

The heating side of distillation is pretty straightforward: you heat up the mash, cool it to add the yeast, then heat it again to distill, and cool it again to condense the vapor. Two major heating and cooling cycles. For the heating, we use renewable fuel. And for the cooling? The industry usually relies on refrigeration systems. I don’t even own a refrigerator. Instead, I rely on nature.

We use ambient air, geothermal systems, and radiant cooling through the concrete floor. Underneath the building, we’ve got geothermal loops, and we’ve got a radiator system out back. We’ve built in four different natural ways to cool the process, without relying on mechanical refrigeration.

People like to call it green, and that’s fine. But honestly, I didn’t do it because it was green. I did it because it was the right thing to do. When you’re building something from scratch that requires energy, the first thing you should do is look at the resources you already have—and ask yourself how you can make the most of them. That’s just common sense.

Your spirits have received prestigious awards and recognition. How do these honors reflect your broader commitment to craftsmanship, quality, and innovation in small-batch distilling?

We didn’t set out to make the “best” whiskey—we just made whiskey from the best ingredients we had right here, locally. And it turns out, that really matters. When you make corn whiskey from corn that’s good enough to eat, it’s just going to taste better. That’s a fact.

One of the tools we use to help guide our selection process is cornbread. I bake a lot of cornbread in a Dutch oven. And here’s the thing: when you lift that lid, the aroma you get from the bread is the same aroma that will come out of a Glencairn glass once that corn is distilled into whiskey. It’s a clear indicator. If the corn doesn’t make great cornbread, it doesn’t get planted again. That’s our rule.

But we go even deeper. We run chemical analyses on different corn varieties—really detailed ones. We look at the profiles and say, “This corn has a smooth, buttery, cognac-like finish.” Then we trace those flavor characteristics back to their genetics. That’s how we know what to propagate. Since 2018, we’ve been building this genetic library and honing in on what makes for an exceptional whiskey. It’s working—we’re making great whiskey. And some of it has won top awards.

But here's the kicker: sometimes we don’t do well in contests—not because the whiskey isn’t great, but because it doesn’t fit the standard judging criteria. When you create something new, something truly different, you risk being misunderstood. I’ve had judges say, “The only thing wrong with this whiskey is I don’t have two cases in my garage.” But still, it gets marked down because it’s “too far from the standard.”

It’s frustrating. But it's not new. Gin went through this a few years ago when all the flavored and botanical gins started hitting the market. There used to be one standard for gin—now there are many. Gin is ahead of corn whiskey in that way, but I believe whiskey will follow.

Think about it: if you're making wine, you start with the right grape. If you're making pie, you start with the right apple. But in whiskey? No one’s asking, “What’s the best corn genetics for this spirit?” Except us. As far as I know, we’re the only ones doing it.

I live out here in central Missouri—kind of in my own little world—but it still surprises me that bigger players, with all their resources, haven’t jumped into this space. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry. Why aren’t more people focusing on this? I don’t know. Maybe because it’s hard. Maybe because it’s a lonely place being the first to do something.

And marketing something that different? That’s another challenge. You can’t just stick it on a shelf and hope people get it. They have to taste it. That’s what changes everything. Once people taste it, they’re hooked—we’ve had folks drive hours to buy it. We can’t even ship in Missouri because of legislation, but we have partners who can, and you can find us online.

Making a good product is only part of the equation. Getting it out into the world—that’s where the real limits show up. That’s the hard part.

You're pioneering new ground in corn breeding specifically for distilled spirits—can you share what sets your approach apart from traditional methods, and how these innovations are reshaping what’s possible in the world of craft distilling?

When you get into crafting something—really crafting it—you start asking different questions. I’ve talked with some big names in the industry, major players. And they all say the same thing:
“Gary, this is really interesting. Fantastic. Keep it up.” But then they add,
“We’re buying a lot of corn, we’re grinding a lot of it, we’re making whiskey—and it’s working. Why fix what isn’t broken?”

And that’s the thing: to them, the system isn’t broken. They’re making money every day off yellow dent corn. It’s everywhere. It’s cheap. It works for their process. But just because it works doesn't mean it's the best.

The truth is, there are better corns for whiskey. The corn they use today? It wasn’t selected for flavor. It wasn’t picked for aroma. It wasn’t chosen because it makes great whiskey.
It was chosen because it feeds pigs and chickens well, or because you can spray a certain herbicide on it and keep the weeds down. That’s why it’s cheap, and that’s why it’s everywhere. But that’s also why we’re stuck with a very narrow genetic base for whiskey—and that makes the whole industry vulnerable.

Then there’s the GMO debate. Some countries say, “You can’t use GMO corn in whiskey.” That’s not a flavor conversation. That’s politics. Europe has one stance. The U.S. has another. And now we’re making scientific decisions based on political lines. That’s a whole other topic—who owns the genetics, who controls them, and what happens when change is forced.

But here’s where it gets real:
Craft distillers—we’re the ones with the freedom to innovate. We can try new things. We can make changes. We can shift fast.
The big guys? They’re locked into the system. But we can experiment. We can create. And honestly, we should.

As craft distillers, we have a responsibility to the industry to do things differently—to lead innovation. That’s what craft is all about. And the simplest, most powerful way to start?
Change your corn. That’s where it begins.

If you would like to find out more about Wood Hat Spirits, please visit https://www.woodhatspirits.com/