Monthly Mash September 2018

Wisconsin, especially the greater Milwaukee area, may have a reputation as a beer town–its baseball team is called The Brewers, of course—but its spirits game is quite strong and only getting stronger. The state is, after all, known for its brandy Old Fashioneds and some of the newer producers are staying true to that heritage with fruit distillates of their own. There’s also quite a bit of grain and botanical activity going on as well.

Great Lakes Distillery has been part of the Milwaukee craft beverage scene since 2004, producing spirits that offer consumers a taste of Wisconsin. The distillery’s Rehorst Gin (named for founder Guy Rehorst), uses botanicals sourced in the state, while its Cranberry Liquor uses fruit from central Wisconsin bogs. Great Lakes also produces, in extremely limited batches, its Artisan Series fruit brandies.

Twisted Path Distillery opened in Milwaukee’s Bayview neighborhood just under four years ago and has been making certified organic vodka, gin and rum ever since. The distillery also offers an eclectic range of liqueurs based on experimental recipes developed in the tasting room. Twisted Path’s first whiskey release is due out this year.

Whiskey is a major focus of the activity at Central Standard Craft Distillery, with the 95 percent rye Central Standard Rye Whiskey and a salute to the first U.S. President in the form of Washington Rye. Central Standard also makes small-batch bourbon based on a nineteenth-century recipe, another bourbon that’s finished in Cabernet barrels and a Scotch-style malt whiskey made in collaboration with nearby Sprecher Brewing Company. New American Gin, Wisconsin Rye Vodka and a coffee vodka made in collaboration with Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. are among the other highlights.

Drive about 45 minutes from central Milwaukee to the town of Burlington and you’ll encounter AeppelTreow Winery & Distillery, whose name is a bit misleading, given that its core, non-distilled products are ciders and perries. It puts its apples an pears to good use in its spirits line, producing brandies from both. The distillery does dabble in grains, producing a whiskey from sorghum.

Yahara Bay, in the state capital of Madison, is another distillery that specializes in brandies, including Preiselbeere Schnapps (cranberry brandy), an Eastern European-inspired Slivovitz (plum brandy), a Kirschwasser (cherry brandy) and Yahara Bay Apple Brandy. Vodka, gin, rum and a series of innovative liqueurs complete Yahara Bay’s collection of offerings.

Madison is also home to Old Sugar Distillery whose patio outside its Main Street tasting room is a real treat on a pleasant day, as it includes a view of the state’s capitol building. Outside or inside, drinkers enjoy cocktails made from local-grape-based Brandy Station, the Greek-inspired anise-flavored Americanaki Ouzo, Cane & Abe Rum and Queen Jennie Sorghum Whiskey.

Madison’s State Line Distillery boasts a cocktail lounge serving up drinks made from the distillery’s Gin, Vodka, Apple Brandy and Coffee Liqueur, made from Kin-Kin Brazilian cold brew. State Line’s barley, wheat and rye-based whiskey is due to come of age in 2020, so you’ll want to mark your calendars.

In Cambridge, Wisconsin, Dancing Goat Distillery is famous for its “Pie” liqueurs, including Travis Hasse Apple Pie, Cherry Pie and Cow Pie—the latter a blend of chocolate, caramel, vanilla, Wisconsin dairy cream and Caribbean Rum. Its Limousin Rye Whiskey is aged in three different types of oak and solera blended.

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin is where Too Tall Distilling hangs its hat, producing a London dry gin, a barrel-aged gin, vodka and coffee liqueur. The first batch of its Whisky (spelled the Scotch and Canadian way) is due to be released in the first or second quarter of 2019.

In nearby Dane, Henry Farms Prairie Spirits is best known for its award-winning, five-year-aged J. Henry Wisconsin Bourbon, made from heirloom corn developed nearly 80 years ago at the University of Wisconsin and grown on the family’s namesake farm.

Wollersheim Distillery in Prairie du Sac is the spirits arm of the winery of the same name, producing both grape and apple brandy, as well as gin, rye whiskey and absinthe. The property was first cultivated a century and a half ago and was established as Wollersheim Winery in 1972. It got its distillery license in 2010.

If you’re feeling really adventurous and want to journey beyond the greater Milwaukee and Madison areas, there are plenty of world-class distilleries to be found in other parts of Wisconsin. Grain-to-glass Driftless Glen Distillery in Baraboo makes its flagship Bourbon Whiskey, as well as Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Its portfolio also includes a rye whiskey, Rivershine moonshine, both flavored and unflavored vodka, 5 Year Reserve Brandy and gin. Hendricks Family Distillery in Omro is the operation behind potato-based Pure Class Vodka and Pure Class Light—the latter with one-half the calories and one-third the alcohol content of Pure Class proper. Meanwhile, Distillery Partners in Plover produces Northern Oasis Spirits for Schierl Family Distilling. Among those is Lakeview Vodka, Riverbank Spiced Rum and Lone Duck Cinnamon Whiskey. In the western part of the state, not too far from the Minnesota border in the town of New Richmond, 45th Parallel Distilling makes its eponymous Vodka, Midwest Vodka, Midwest Gin, and Border Straight Bourbon Whiskey, distilled on-site in 45th Parallel’s pot still and aged for four years.

If you want to get a taste of Milwaukee’s nightlife, a good place to start is Boone & Crockett at its new location overlooking the Kinnickinnic River. The craft cocktail bar has a bit of a frontier feel to it, with taxidermy on the walls, offering a vintage vibe while you sip on classic and barrel-aged concoctions.

Boone & Crockett’s former location is now the home of The Lost Whale, a very green-minded cocktail bar that just opened in June 2018. The bar uses compostable straws and recycled-fiber paper products and mixes drinks with food items that would have otherwise gone to waste. Speed is also a big part of The Lost Whale’s mission, delivering drinks to hard-working people in a fast and efficient manner.

Finally, the Prohibition-era aesthetic is alive and well in Milwaukee and the best place to soak some of that in is at the very appropriately named Bugsy’s Back Alley Speakeasy. It’s a trip back in time that removes guests from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day city life, if only for a moment.