St. Louis Secures Its Spot on the Global Craft Spirits Map

The ADI Craft Spirits Conference & Vendor Expo at America’s Center in St. Louis had a significant impact on our craft spirits industry.

As host city for this year’s ADI Craft Spirits Conference & Vendor Expo, which took place at the America’s Center Convention Complex from Sept. 14 to 16, St. Louis has secured its spot on the global craft spirits map.

Founded in 2003, the American Distilling Institute is the largest and most respected group of craft distillers in the U.S., and this was the first time that it chose St. Louis as the destination for its annual conference.

“St. Louis, and Missouri as a whole, have proven that they have what it takes to attract a national conference like this,” Natasha Bahrami, founder of Ginworld and owner of The Gin Room, says. “In this case, it’s the right combination of growth in the craft spirits industry, talented distillers and spirits enthusiasts and an environment to foster the success of a conference of this magnitude. We’re doing big things, and we deserve to be acknowledged in ways like this, so bravo, St. Louis.”

“We didn’t decide to come to St. Louis in a vacuum,” Anne-Sophie Whitehead, conference director of the American Distilling Institute, says. “It’s because of people like David Weglarz and Rob Vossmeyer , Lynn Weber and Natasha Bahrami hammering it into us that St. Louis is a worthy market. They insisted that we give them a chance, that they would help us put on a great show. They were responsible for us coming here.

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Spotlighting the bustling distilling scene in the St. Louis area, as well as the region’s ingenuity, the conference drew approximately 1,350 people tied to the distilling industry from across the country and around the world, including 196 exhibitors, which was a record for the event.

To kick things off, the Missouri Craft Distillers Guild hosted a welcome tasting at the Marriott St. Louis Grand on Sept. 14. During the event, Missouri’s top distillers celebrated and shared their spirits with other respected industry professionals, who were blown away by the range, quality and creativity of our local and regional offerings as well as the camaraderie of the guild.

“The local and regional craft spirits industry is one of the unsung industries in the country,” Whitehead says. “but there are some real gems here. There’s inventiveness in this industry that more established industries might not have, and we could sense a hunger amongst the distillers to push the envelope, which was refreshing.”

Experience St. Louis

Ultimately, the success of the ADI Craft Spirits Conference & Vendor Expo at the America’s Center means people from near and far got to experience the first-class hospitality of St. Louis and embrace our top-tier distillers, opening the eyes of other distillers, marketers, importers and sales teams and continuing to propel our craft spirits industry forward.