Gunnar’s Bourbon Company sits right on Main Street in Sedan, Kansas, a small town of about 1,000 people in the southeast corner of the state. Founded by Gunnar Carlson, a former aerospace engineer who traded his corporate career for copper stills and charred oak barrels, the distillery opened its doors in 2018 after years of planning and navigating Kansas liquor laws. The operation takes up a restored early 1900s building that once housed a general store, and you can still see some of the original tin ceiling tiles above the production floor. Carlson’s journey into distilling started as a home brewing hobby that evolved into something more serious after he took a distilling course in Kentucky. What began as weekend experiments in his garage turned into a full-scale business plan when he realized Kansas had very few craft distilleries despite its agricultural advantages. The transition wasn’t smooth—convincing city officials and securing the proper permits took nearly two years, but Carlson’s engineering background helped him design an efficient production setup in a relatively small space. The distillery focuses primarily on bourbon and rye whiskey, using locally sourced corn and wheat when possible. You’ll find a tasting room up front with about eight seats at a small bar, and if you time it right, you can watch Carlson or his assistant distiller working the 250-gallon copper still in the back. It’s not a flashy operation, but there’s something genuine about watching someone who left a comfortable career to chase a dream involving grain, yeast, and time.