Wood Hat Spirits had plenty of reasons to celebrate on Oct. 30.

The New Florence whiskey distillery earned top honors at the 2025 Heartland Whiskey Competition, winning the Best Farmer-Distilled Bourbon award nationally and the Best In State award for Missouri. Owner Gary Hinegardner received the awards.

Wood Hat Spirits’ Queen Reserve was tied for first with Bloody Butcher Bourbon of Pathfinder Farm Distillery of Keedysville, Md., for the top farmer-distilled bourbon in the nation, making it the first time a Missouri distillery won national honors.

“It’s expensive, but it’s very good,” Hinegardner said. “People come from long ways out to drive here to get the Queen’s Reserve. Now that it’s got a big award, people will drive down from Ames, Iowa to get a bottle and come from Kansas City. “

Wood Hat Spirits entered four whiskeys in the Heartland Whiskey Competition, which is sanctioned by the American Craft Spirits Association and sponsored in part by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council. Queen’s Reserve received a gold medal for bourbon whiskey. The other three whiskeys – Our Bottled in Bond Rubenesque, Who-8 and White Dog – won bronze medals.

To qualify for the Farmer-Distiller award, participants must both own a distillery and operate a working corn farm. Wood Hat Spirits, located at 489 Booneslick Road, is certified as a craft distillery by the American Distilling Institute and operates the only woodfire still in the country.

The Heartland Whiskey Competition drew entries from all 50 states and saw record participation in 2025.

Bradley Schad, CEO of the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council and Missouri Corn Growers Association, presented an award to Wood Hat Spirits for the third time.

“They got a great product,” Schad said. “Gary has been doing it for a really long time and has perfected the type of corn that he uses. He does a really good job of making great-tasting bourbon.”

Schad said the MCGA helps promote corn of all forms.

“We try to promote whether it would be feed grains, bourbon and ethanol and uses of plastics and biochemicals,” said Schad, who has been CEO since 2021. “This is just one way to help promote an industry that uses our products. I work for all of the corn farmers across the state of Missouri. We wanted to help promote their product, corn, and help grind as much as we can throughout the year in whatever way they can. Whiskey is a great way to do that.”

Hinegardner is the owner of a very popular distillery that is known for its whiskey and wood hats. Since Wood Hat Spirits opened in 2012, it grew over 300 tons of corn and made more than $2 million in sales.