Conversations with Alex Lindsey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Lindsey

Hi Alex, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After a decade of home distillation, whiskey aging, blending and figuring out how to make that an actual business; I found an old train tunnel pass thru in an historic West Bottoms building (built in 1893). We launched with our first blended whiskey – Kansas City Whiskey, a pre-prohibition style of whiskey where sherry was historically rectified into whiskeys. We leveraged that small tunnel to introduce our whiskey and featured cocktail The Best Old Fashioned in KC. In our first year our tasting room was voted in the Pitch as the Best New Bar in Kansas City and The Best Old Fashioned in Kansas City. We launched our whiskey into distribution across Kansas and Missouri.

Since then we have expanded seating to our parlor, and moved distilling, blending, barrel finishing and bottling production to the building attached where we distill an American Single Malt and blend 3 whiskeys out in distribution. We have since increased our cocktail hours to 5 days a week distillery tours and tastings. 3 days a week.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not, owning and operating a business is a daring and often times overwhelming experience. The amount of hats one has to where – production, forecasting, marketing, software troubleshooter, scheduling, training, distribution launches, new products & cocktails. Its a lot, but with a good team it starts to get easier.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My main job, other than running the business, is making sure production runs smoothly but also that our brand and messaging is heard and heard by as many people as possible. I am passionate about whiskeys and how we can continue to create consistent and sippable blended whiskeys. We are known most for our Kansas City Whiskey, a 99 point rated whiskey (Las Vegas Global Spirit Awards). We are pushing hard this year to introduce ourselves as master blenders of whiskey with story as a differentiator in the market. In a market that is currently saturated with Bourbons & Ryes – we really stand out. Our blends offer a bouquet of flavors and each sip tells a story (beginning, middle and end). By understanding whiskeys; I can pick apart components and start to combine, or introduce unique barrel finishes to blend beautiful whiskeys with story.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up I was very curious about how things worked. I loved creating, whether science oriented projects or legos my passion was in the creation. I enjoyed reading a lot both fiction and non-fiction and found that only spurred my imagination even more.

Pricing:

• Kansas City Whiskey – $40 & under
• Convergence Whiskey – $50
• American Blended Malt Whiskey – $60

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/westbottomswhiskeyco
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westbottomswhiskeyco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westbottomswhiskeyco/