116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
After 20 years of pioneering, Cedar Ridge Distillery positions itself for more Midwestern growth amid future uncertainty
How Iowa’s first post-Prohibition distillery has blazed a trail in whiskey
Sep. 28, 2025 5:30 am
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SWISHER — Many years before terms like “trade war” dominated headlines, Cedar Ridge Distillery founder Jeff Quint saw a different sort of trade deficit that didn’t sit right with him.
“Iowa produces more corn than any state in the country. Yet before Cedar Ridge, we Iowans were importing 100 percent of the $350 million a year of spirits we were consuming,” he said. “We literally would sell Kentucky $4 worth of corn and buy $40 worth of spirits back.”
Since 2001, he had been complaining that his “401(k) had turned into a 101k.” By 2003, Quint and his wife, Laurie, decided to take on a “retirement project.”
The hearty French-American grape hybrids that do well in the Upper Midwest’s harsh climate were just starting to catch on, and the Quint family could tell it wasn’t just a fad. In 2003, they purchased its land in Swisher and started planting what they envisioned as an anchor for wine in Eastern Iowa.
But as they waited for the grapes to grow, some other complementary ideas started to develop. So in 2005, Cedar Ridge added “Distillery” to its name as it became the first one licensed in Iowa since the end of Prohibition.
What started as a little whiskey and wine house on the prairie has boomed into a trailblazing pioneer in a rapidly growing industry.
A booming industry
After decades of a whiskey market dominated by Kentucky and Tennessee, Cedar Ridge Distillery added one dot on the map of a few dozen craft distilleries scattered across the country.
In 2010, there were fewer than 50 craft distilleries across the country, said Margie A.S. Lehrman, CEO of the American Craft Spirits Association. Today, there are over 2,200, including 26 native distilleries in Iowa.
Altogether, they used more than 208 billion pounds of corn last year.
“What we can say, without question, is (distilling) represents one of the most innovative sectors in American manufacturing,” Lehrman said. “When you have a really great cocktail, it’s not that you’re just going to guzzle it down. It’s that you’re enjoying something.”
She says craft spirits, a type of “value added agriculture” in each bottle, are the latest wave in a renaissance for quality alcohol — starting with wine in the 1980s followed by craft beer in the 1990s.
For years, consumers have cared more about where their wine and beer came from. Now, they ask the same questions about their whiskey.
Why Iowa does it better
Unlike many other states getting in on the action, some whiskey producers say Iowa is better positioned.
“Go to Kentucky and they’ll talk about water. Why do they talk about the water? Because they can’t talk about the grain,” said Pat Hoffman, founder of Lonely Oak Distillery in Earling and member of the Iowa Distillers Alliance. “If the best wines were in Nevada and they imported grapes from California and Washington, that wouldn’t make sense, would it?”
In the 20th century, qualities in the local water supply, like Ph, dictated production feasibility. Today, he said it takes no time to turn Iowa well water into “Kentucky limestone water.”
Iowa just makes sense for bourbon and whiskey, he said — putting your raw materials next to your factory.
Factor in Iowa’s wild temperature swings, and you have fertile ground for turning one of the cheaper agricultural commodities into liquid gold. When temperatures go up, whiskey expands and soaks into the char of its oak barrel where wood sugars, amino acids and other elements imbue it with good flavor. When temperatures drop, it contracts.
How they developed new connoisseurs
As with craft beer and wine, developing new markets for producers meant a lot of education. By 2015, there was still a lot of resistance to craft spirits, especially away from home.
“Getting people to try the product was like pulling teeth. ‘Craft is crap’ — I remember them saying that,” said Murphy Quint, head distiller at Cedar Ridge.
So the business made a few changes.
With a tagline of “Celebrate with us,” Cedar Ridge built out its food and entertainment venue on the homefront to get visitors in the door. On-site weddings introduced hundreds at a time to their brand.
Now, Cedar Ridge Distillery and Winery sees 125,000 visitors each year in Swisher, a town with a population of less than 1,000.
“If I look back on one of the things we did well, it was establishing that local presence and taking care of that consumer, building on that fan base,” Jeff said.
In other markets, Murphy honed his craft with a tasting experience that engaged consumers better than PowerPoints. His signature tasting experience incorporates six tasting glasses that unveil a new world to drinkers discovering unique flavors as they blend different varieties.
Now, his tasting events sell out in cities like Chicago. And thanks to a change in Prohibition-era liquor laws over recent years, they can sell bottles in the tasting room, ship to most states and reach several other countries.
“For (five) years now, we’ve had the number one selling bourbon in the state. We’re the only craft distiller in the country that can make that claim,” Jeff said.
In the other 49 states, the number one selling bourbon is produced in Kentucky, Quint said.
But as Cedar Ridge has broken through to mainstream consumers with its quality, its annual niche releases have helped develop a market of more mature connoisseurs — allowing the distillery to lean further into its craft.
Its American Single Malt bottles — America’s version of Scotch, which can only be made in Scotland — take full advantage of their on-site winery. Their distinguishing signature lies in their method of cask finishing, which involved multiple barrels to create unique whiskey flavors.
“I bring in sherry butts from Spain. I bring in Sauternes and Citadelle from Europe. I bring in Hungarian Oak, French Oak, American Oak,” Murphy said. “The whiskey consumers, they really enjoy that.”
Positioning for growth
Today, Cedar Ridge fills 120 barrels a month — about 6,000 cases. Its maximum capacity is about 200 barrels.
The whiskey, bourbon and single malt scotch Murphy plans today is for bottles that will be sold well into the 2030s. This includes production for other entities with their own labels, like Slipknot No. 9 sold by its namesake heavy metal band from Des Moines.
The Quint family has found that being in a place called “flyover country” works to their advantage. Whiskey, Murphy said, is like music because it’s fun to introduce friends to new bands.
“Ten years ago, it really hurt us that we were this whiskey from Iowa. The script has completely flipped on that front,” Murphy said. “A lot of people have tried us specifically because of that and then tried to spread the word, similar to how you would when you find a new band.”
With a challenging landscape ahead for distilleries in a market that has become saturated, the father and son in business see market corrections ahead for craft distilleries. Yet, they are positioning themselves to ramp up production for the future.
“We’re definitely betting on ourselves,” Murphy said.
Unlike other craft distilleries that have been sold off, they see their business staying in the family for generations with potential to develop an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). They envision a second taproom as they strengthen their Swisher operation into a regional stronghold in the Upper Midwest across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
For many distilleries, finding an alcohol distributor remains the biggest challenge to further growth, Lehrman said.
“They can make the best product, but unless they can put it in the hands of consumers, it doesn’t matter,” she said.
But no matter how big Cedar Ridge gets, the Quints said Iowa will always come first.
“Iowa’s always going to be our top market and our top focus for a market,” Jeff said.
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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