Iowa All Over: Riverboats helped put LeClaire on the map

LECLAIRE — Ryan and Garrett Burchett have a simple philosophy: The brothers and managers of Mississippi River Distilling Co. in LeClaire want people to know their beverages are the product of grain and supplies harvested from land right here in Iowa.

'When we set out to start, we had our eye on the Quad Cities area,' Ryan Burchett said. 'We wanted to tie it to the history of the river. We looked at a lot of different places in the area up and down the Mississippi and it just seemed to really feel right here in downtown LeClarie.

'You hit the downtown, you see the antique streetlights and the old buildings and it was like, 'This could really work here.''

Today, five years after opening in December 2010, Mississippi River Distilling sells vodka, gin and whiskey that goes from raw grain to bottle entirely on site.

'We pride ourselves on doing everything as close to home as possible,' Ryan said. 'We make vodka, gin, whiskeys, liqueurs — all from local grain, sourced right from the farmers who grow it, and it all comes from within 25 miles.'

The distillery sits just above the Mississippi River. LeClaire's history is tied deeply to the river, said Bob Schiffke, executive director of the Buffalo Bill Museum, also in LeClaire.

'Between LeClaire and Davenport, there were 15 miles of rapids at one time, and it was difficult to get a steamboat through these rapids,' Schiffke said. 'There was a lot of rock and sandbars.

'In 1837, a couple of young men from LeClaire learned from the Indians how to get through these rapids safely. So they became rapids riverboat pilots.'

Within a few years, a licensed rapids pilot was critical to take a boat through the rapids.

'That means you had to stop in LeClaire and pick up a rapids pilot,' Schiffke. 'Or you had to stop in Davenport and pick up a rapids pilot and then, when you got to LeClaire, drop them off.'

As a result, LeClaire became an important place on the Mississippi River and eventually 'you could get anything you wanted for a steamboat here in LeClaire.'

Today, Mississippi River Distilling honors these pilots with products named after them, such as River Pilot vodka and River Baron artisan spirits.

Inside the building on North Cody Road in LeClaire, visitors can take a tour and watch the production.

The process actually begins when the Burchetts go to farms and get the grain in the raw. The grain is brought back to the business and goes to a mash tank. There, the starch in the grain is converted to sugar.

During the tour, visitors will learn about this and the entire process of distilling.

Whiskey goes into barrels in the barrel room for a couple years, Ryan said.

'Our barrels are made in Minnesota, but they get their oak from Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin, so it was the closest thing to a local barrel we could find,' Ryan said.

Clear spirits aren't aged and go directly to the bottle. All products are bottled by hand, one by one. Bottles are corked and sealed and hand numbered before going to market for sale. Visitors can then look up the number on the distillery's website to find out the names of the farmers who grew the grain and the day it was distilled and bottled.

The company also offers seasonal products based on local offerings. They find a local ingredient, identify something they can do with it and then offer a limited supply.

For example, a queen bee honey whiskey features honey from a beekeeper in Creston that is infused into the company's Cody Road bourbon, Ryan said.

In addition to the distillery, the business features a tasting room, gift shop and grain and bottle storage.

On average, 50,000 people visit the distillery annually, Ryan said.

'It's really cool to bring something as distinctively Iowan as field corn and bring it to people in an entirely new fashion,' Ryan said.

On Main Street, Mississippi River Distilling Company sits next to the newly opened Green Tree Brewery. Down the same street are a number of businesses including vintage and antique stores.

Schiffke, of the museum, said the river remains a draw today.

'People like to see the river,' he said. 'They like to sit in the restaurants and look at the river. They just walk along the river. There's not too many places where you can get up close to it, anywhere up and down the river.'

More on LeClaire

Founded in 1834, LeClaire, in Scott County, has a population of 3,765, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. William F. Cody was born on a farm near LeClaire in 1846, and the city features the Buffalo Bill Museum.