Smoky Valley Distillery was established by Stan and Michele Von Strohe. The husband and wife duo enjoyed highly successful professional careers before embarking on their encore career as distillers. Stan was co-owner of a medical equipment distributorship and Michele is a retired teacher. Distilling aficionados for many years, they always hoped to open a distillery of their own one day. And like a good whiskey, good ideas sometimes require an aging process.

After years of research, visiting distilleries around the country and attending national trade shows, Stand and Michele finally decided to make their dream a reality. So, they moved to their favorite all-American small town – Marquette, Kansas – a place where they have family ties, many friends and fond memories. Stan, as a young boy, even worked on local farms during the summers.

They purchased the COOP, a historic old building in the heart of downtown, and immediately began remodeling the building to become a state-of-the-art distillery. In January of 2020, the Von Strohes and their son Shane, opened Smoky Valley Distillery and began operations.