J. Rieger & Co. sits in Kansas City’s East Bottoms, occupying a restored 19th-century building that once housed the original Rieger distillery before Prohibition shut it down in 1919. Ryan Maybee and Andy Rieger—great-great-great nephew of original founder Jacob Rieger—brought the family name back to life in 2014, nearly a century after it disappeared. They spent three years researching old recipes, convincing city officials, and renovating the historic space at 2700 Guinotte Avenue into a working distillery that honors Kansas City’s pre-Prohibition whiskey heritage. The duo produces whiskey, gin, and liqueurs using traditional methods combined with modern equipment, including copper pot stills and a custom-built column still. Andy’s background in hospitality and Ryan’s business acumen created something Kansas City hadn’t seen in generations—a legitimate craft distillery with deep local roots. The 8,000-square-foot facility feels like stepping back in time, with exposed brick walls, original hardwood floors, and the kind of industrial bones that remind you this building has been making spirits longer than most distilleries have existed. They’re not just making whiskey; they’re continuing a story that Prohibition interrupted, using some of the original Rieger family recipes they discovered in old archives and family documents.