If a dry New Year isn’t for you, the craft spirits distillery Still 630 has some fun in store for 2026. To mark America’s semiquincentennial, it will host the Indomitable Spirit of America 250th Birthday Bourbon event – a once-monthly, year-long celebration of America’s history by way of rare limited-edition, single-barrel bourbons commemorating key moments in this country’s history. The celebration begins Friday, Jan. 2, with the release of a bourbon honoring 1776 and the Declaration of Independence, and will continue monthly on each first Friday thereafter.
“If you’re into whiskey, this is very exciting,” said David Weglarz, owner of the 13-year-old downtown St. Louis distillery, which makes its home in an old Hardy’s building at at 1000 S. Fourth St. on the corner of Chouteau Avenue.
While each of the bourbons in the 12 barrels will be made of the same mash (yellow and red corn, rye, wheat and malted barley), they will be unique. “It’s like children growing up in the same house. The same environment, the same DNA, but very different personalities,” Weglarz said. It bodes extremely well, therefore, that Still 630’s barrels come from the Lebanon, Missouri-based Independent Stave Co., which has been making fine oak barrels since 1912.
Weglarz is keen to note that in addition to pure tastings, cocktails with historical flavors (and employing some of the craft distillery’s other spirits) are being masterminded. Still 630 drink-wizards, Andrew Spaugh and Jake Obradovic, he said, are already at work on January’s lineup, which likely will include a Fish Bowl Punch – authentic to 1776 and made with rum or gin, peach syrup and sugar water; and served over ice. And a Flip which is rye whiskey, apple brandy, madeira, molasses and a whole egg; warmed with a hot poker. “Yes, we really are [going to do that],” Weglarz said.
Bottles of the Indomitable Spirit bourbon will be available for purchase, each with its own removable, collectable gold coin engraved to represent the historic event. There will also be trivia.
“As we prepare to celebrate 250 years of the American spirit, we wanted to create something truly special that honors our nation’s heritage while showcasing the artistry of American bourbon-making,” said Weglarz. “Each barrel in the Indomitable Spirit of America 250th Birthday series is a celebration of craftsmanship, history and the pioneering spirit that defines both our country and our distillery.”
The monthly tasting parties take place from 5 to 9 p.m. the first Friday of each month.