Carson Taylor
A southern Iowa native, Christi Taylor was born in September of 1970. She graduated from Grand View University in 1997, earned her medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, and completed an internal-medicine residency in Des Moines, becoming a board-certified internist and health-care executive. Taylor then advanced through leadership positions promoting the quality and delivery of health care. At The Iowa Clinic, she served on its board of directors and worked as chief quality officer, directing efforts involving population health, quality analytics, and care management. She later served as chief medical officer at McFarland Clinic in Ames and became chief medical officer for Clover Health’s Value-Based Care division, leading initiatives intended to improve health-care quality, affordability, physician engagement, preventive care, and chronic-disease management. Her medical career also included service as president of the Iowa Medical Society, board positions with WesleyLife and the health-information exchange CyncHealth, and advisory and leadership work with the American Medical Group Association.
Whiskey entered Taylor’s story through a shared interest with her husband, Rob. In 2011, Christi and Rob attended the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, initially treating the trip as nothing more than an enjoyable diversion. Yet something drew them back, and they returned to the Festival for several years running, forming friendships with people in the industry, and became increasingly absorbed in the differences among whiskeys and the business behind them. One day, a Kentucky distiller pointed out that much of the corn used in Kentucky bourbon came from Iowa, giving the Taylors the central premise for their future company: Iowa possessed the grain needed to make its own distinctive whiskey.
By 2015, the Taylor’s interest had become serious preparation. They spoke with distillers about the realities of running a spirits company, toured hundreds of distilleries in the United States and abroad, and studied at Moonshine University in Louisville. Taylor characterized approximately two years of this period as an unofficial education, but the learning never stopped; the couple continued attending American Distilling Institute conferences, taking additional classes, visiting distilleries, and studying how bartenders used different spirits. For Christi, that education also meant developing her palate, and following new approaches to drinks and flavor. In late 2016, while their business plan was still developing, the Taylors purchased a former winery on ten acres near Interstate 35 in Osceola, Rob’s hometown. Revelton began operations in late 2020 and opened its renovated facility to the public during the period spanning late 2020 and 2021. Its production floor was built around “Lucy,” a custom-made Vendome column still standing 33 feet tall, along with a dedicated Vendome gin still and large-scale cooking and fermentation equipment. The company adopted a grain-to-glass model, obtaining corn, rye, honey, and other ingredients from Iowa producers whenever possible. After distillation, nearby farmers collect the spent grain for livestock feed, keeping a principal byproduct of whiskey production within the local agricultural economy.
Revelton was a family operation from its beginning. The Taylors’ oldest son, Ben, tended bar, learned mixology, and assisted in the distillery; their two daughters invested in the company; their son-in-law served as project architect; and their youngest son, Will, performed maintenance work and raised bees for the Iowa Honey Company. One of the Taylors’ daughters also helped refine Revelton’s award-winning gins. This family participation complemented Christi’s management of the hospitality side of the business, where locally produced spirits were presented through tours, tastings, cocktails, entertainment, and community events.
Whiskey remained the idea that launched Revelton, even though unaged products were essential during its early years. Gin and vodka could be bottled and sold while the company’s rye whiskey and bourbon matured in barrels, giving Revelton income during the long aging period. Its whiskey-related releases grew to include straight rye whiskey, bourbon, white whiskey made from its bourbon mash bill, honey whiskey, and Whiskey & Cream liqueur. In the tasting room, Taylor and her team translated those products into drinks such as the Honey Old Fashioned, the whiskey-based Shinearita, and cocktails made with Revelton Shine and Whiskey & Cream. By 2025, the distillery was selling in Iowa and three additional states while pursuing a $6 million capital campaign intended to support entry into more markets and explore international possibilities.
In April 2026, the American Craft Spirits Association recognized Revelton as one of the leading distillery tasting rooms in the United States. The honor carried particular significance for Taylor because the tasting room embodied the part of Revelton she had shaped most directly: an inviting setting in which cocktails, hospitality, and education connected visitors to the grain and people behind the spirits. What began with a visit to a Kentucky bourbon festival had matured into an Iowa distillery with locally sourced grain, a substantial whiskey inventory, national recognition, and ambitions beyond its home state. Christi Taylor’s place in that development rests on a distinctive combination of medical leadership, product creation, design, mixology, and the sustained work of turning a family interest in whiskey into a durable Iowa business.
Sources:
Grand View University, “Dr. Christi Taylor ’97 Joins Grand View University Board of Trustees,” November 24, 2025, grandview.edu
Alcohol Professor, “Revelton Distilling’s Spirits Celebrate the Local Grains of Iowa,” Robin Shreeves, April 27, 2023, alcoholprofessor.com
Osceola Chamber Main Street, “OCMS Investor Spotlight: Revelton Distilling Company,” July 23, 2021, osceolachamber.com
dsm Magazine, “From Iowa to Italy, Revelton Distillery Takes a Shot at Growth,” Steve Dinnen, July 17, 2025, dsmmagazine.com
Revelton Distilling Company official website, reveltondistillery.com
Contributed by Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee
