Small batch spirits and a family recipe leads a local distillery to success.

Most people have their favorite go-to family recipes. For the Broker family, a recipe for corn whiskey that dates back more than 70 years was the genesis for what today is a growing Mid-Missouri craft distillery.

Located in Lohman, Missouri, Blacksmith Distillery has been making small-batch bourbons, whiskeys, vodkas, and gins commercially for about five years.

Michael J. “Mike” Broker III and his siblings Russ, John, and Leah carry on the family tradition of making premium distilled spirits that their grandfather started long ago. Michael John Broker Sr. was a blacksmith in Frankenstein, Missouri, and lived at a time when people made most everything they consumed themselves. Senior created the family corn whiskey recipe. His son Michael Jr. saved the recipe for many years, but it wasn’t until 2011, when his children gave him a still for his 70th birthday, that the Brokers began making corn whiskey again. Thus, the seeds for Blacksmith Distillery were planted.

The spirits are made and bottled in a 1950s renovated dairy barn on a farm purchased by the Broker family in 1977. Although founder Michael Broker Jr. passed away in October of 2024, he was fortunate to be able to see the distillery’s growth and success, including the addition of a new building. His family says his legacy lives on in every bottle.

Like many small businesses, Blacksmith (the name harkens back to the senior Broker’s profession) took flight as the Brokers began to share their spirits with family and friends who liked the products so much, they encouraged the Broker family to bottle and sell them. Because Mike and his siblings preferred bourbon, bourbon was the second liquor they began to make. Today, the distillery produces up to six bourbon products from its bourbon mash. While Mike’s favorite Blacksmith spirit is the Honey Bourbon, the distillery’s best seller is a bourbon called Snow Day, which Mike says tastes like Christmas and is sold year-round.

Today, the distillery produces 15-18 gallons of spirits each weekend. The business is primarily a two-day operation, as the Broker siblings all have full-time jobs. The goal, however, is to eventually move into full-time production.

“We’re a small outfit, but we’re making a bigger and bigger imprint,” Mike says.

Signs of the company’s progress can be seen in the new facility that opened in the spring, allowing Blacksmith Distillery to increase production and also offer a more spacious and comfortable venue for tours and tastings. The new building is equipped with contemporary machinery that allows the liquor-making process to be more automated, meaning the family members no longer have to stir their spirits by hand or label their bottles one at a time. According to Mike, the secret ingredient that sets Blacksmith Distillery’s spirits apart from its competitors is the water they use, which is drawn from a deep well located on the farm.

“It’s the best water you’ve ever tasted,” says Mike, who goes by the title of CEO, janitor, and chief anvil polisher for the distillery. “It’s fantastic and full of flavor, and we don’t filter it at all.”

A highly popular and successful offshoot of Black smith’s operation is a private labeling option that allows patrons to customize the bottles and small barrels the distillery uses to package its beverages. The private labeling feature makes unique gifts for weddings, anniversaries, retirements, fundraisers, and other special events. More information about the distillery’s award-winning spirits and private labeling program can be found on their website, blacksmithartisanalspirits.com. An entertaining promotional video on their website entices customers to take the short, 10-mile trip from Jefferson City to Lohman to sample their wares.

“We believe that if folks come visit us, they’ll be customers for life,” Mike says.

Learn More:

A complete list of Blacksmith Distillery’s award-winning products and the places that sell them can be found on the company’s website. In addition, distillery tours and tastings are offered on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.