Cardinal Sin Distillery

Cardinal Sin Distillery makes its home in a historic building at 825 South Main Street in Saint Charles, Missouri, where a former orthopedic surgeon's dream of building a vodka distillery grew into a full lineup of whiskeys named for the seven deadly sins. The distillery trades under the Cardinal Sin name but is registered as St. Louis Distillery, and its bottles carry a reputation for pushing past the ordinary vodka-and-bourbon formula into barrel-aged Starka, cinnamon-and-chili-infused whiskey, and an unpeated American single malt.

History & Heritage

Cardinal Sin Distillery was founded in 2012 by three St. Charles-area partners: Greg Deters, Steve Herberholt, and Bill Schroer. Schroer, an orthopedic surgeon by trade, had long wanted to open a vodka distillery, and the trio built the operation in a historic building on South Main Street in Saint Charles' riverfront district. The distillery began with a single, laser-focused product: a clean, ultra-pure vodka distilled once rather than the multiple redistillation passes common among craft producers. That approach paid off quickly. In 2012, Cardinal Sin Vodka scored 97 points and earned a Top Rated designation for unflavored vodka from Tastings, and by 2016 the operation, still trading as St. Louis Distillery at the time, was named USA Today's Best Craft Vodka Distillery. From that vodka foundation, the founders expanded into whiskey, building out a lineup organized loosely around the seven deadly sins, from Lust Bourbon Whiskey to Wrath Cinnamon & Chili Pepper Whiskey.

The Whiskey

Cardinal Sin's whiskey program grew out of the same rectification-focused distilling philosophy the founders applied to vodka: a custom still built to avoid over-distillation, preserving grain character while removing impurities through repeated rectification passes. Cardinal Sin Envy Rye Whiskey is built from a mash bill of 70 percent rye and aged in Missouri white oak barrels. Cardinal Sin Pride American Single Malt Whiskey is distilled from a mash bill in the range of 96 to 100 percent malted barley (sources vary on the exact figure) and left unpeated, aged roughly twenty months in specially honeycombed barrels to maximize wood contact. Cardinal Sin Lust Bourbon Whiskey rounds out the traditional side of the lineup with a well-balanced, straightforward bourbon profile. The distillery also produces flavored and infused expressions that lean into the sin theme: Cardinal Sin OMG Brown Sugar Whiskey, bottled at 60 proof (30 percent ABV) with natural brown sugar sweetness and no artificial coloring, Cardinal Sin Wrath Cinnamon & Chili Pepper Whiskey, and Cardinal Sin Gluttony Peach Pecan Whiskey. Perhaps the most technically distinctive release is Cardinal Sin Starka, aged a minimum of six months in new Missouri white oak bourbon barrels with a medium char. Cardinal Sin Distillery describes it as the first barrel-aged Starka vodka released in the United States, a Polish-style rye vodka tradition rarely attempted by American producers.

Why It Matters

Cardinal Sin occupies an unusual position among Missouri distillers: a vodka house that built out a genuine whiskey program rather than the more common path of a whiskey distillery adding vodka as an afterthought. The single-distillation, high-rectification approach to the vodka base carries through into the whiskey line's clarity of grain character, and the willingness to revive an obscure format like barrel-aged Starka signals a producer more interested in craft experimentation than chasing category conventions. As of July 2026, Cardinal Sin Distillery remains owned and operated by founders Greg Deters, Steve Herberholt, and Bill Schroer.

Visiting the Distillery

Cardinal Sin Distillery offers tours and tastings Friday through Sunday, with walk-ins welcome and online self-scheduling available. Tastings run ten dollars for four samples or sixteen dollars for eight, and a VIP Tasting at twenty-five dollars includes a reserve whiskey pour and a Glencairn tasting glass to keep. Mixed cocktails are available for eight dollars each, or three for twenty dollars. The distillery is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.