45th parallel spirits

My wife and I found this little place while traveling the back roads of Wisconsin. Tasted all the spirits they make and left with horseradish spirits. Worth a stop and a detour.

We have been to 45th Parallel a couple of times. The tour is interesting. The guides tend to have a fun sense of humor. The tour size has grown over the years from 4 to almost 40, but it does not seem to distract too much. They sell cocktails here but don't see the reason. The ample samples of their products is enough alcohol to be able to drive again.My favorite is their lemoncello. We also keep the horseradish vodka on hand for some really good Bloody Marys. There are several great places to eat after this tour. We have been to Brady's and Table 65. Both are worth staying in town and having a meal.Watch Groupon or other social sites like this. They often have these taste testing tours deals.

We met some friends here for a fun (group) date night. They all had a groupon discount, wishing we did too. We ended up paying double than what our friends did. While waiting for the tour to start, we were able to order drinks from their mini-bar. Once I saw the prices, $6-$8) I decided to pass. The tour was good. It was interactive with samples at the end. I had no idea how popular/world wide our little home-town distillery is! Great for them!

The building on the outside is a typical factory setting however, when you walk in there is a very nice small bar and tasting room. You are served an amble selection of gin and vodka, both of what they make and what they bottle. Very interested, I have been to wine and beer tastings before and found this to be good.

My husband & I did a tour and tasting here recently - we were very impressed with the informative tour, the focus on using local ingredients, the knowledge of the staff AND the generosity with the tasting. Talk about fun, and so interesting to compare different hard liquors, side by side. The aquavits are creative & tasty. Parallel 45 vodka is now a staple in our cabinet. This would be a HOOT to do with a large group of friends - it was great with a bunch of strangers, too! World-class quality with local friendliness.

So interesting to learn about a distillery and the staff were very friendly. But the star of the visit is definitely the tasting!!! Only $5 for the tour and tasting, best deal in town. We went here for "cocktail hour" before dinner at nearby restaurant.

The tour was about 45 minutes long, lots of interesting facts and some ability to see close up how they distill spirits here. The owner led the tour and was engaging, interesting and really helped us understand a ton about the history and process.A big highlight was seeing the process firsthand - peeking right into the gear.The tasting afterwards was another highlight, especially the Lemoncello, Orangecello, the whiskey, and the Horseradish Vodka. The Horseradish Vodka is a home run by the way for making the best Bloody Marys ever. They don't over flavor it - it's excellent. Buying a bottle of that at the end of the tour is worth the trip by itself.We went as a group outing of about 10 people, it was a fun outing - took a limo van from the Twin Cities and made a great day of it, with dinner after the tasting. This has to be one of the best $5 events you can do!

This is a small distillery in Western WI. Nothing is wasted in production, everything is used local and returned local. Absolutely love the limoncello! They also have infused vodkas that are excellent with Bloody Marys. Will be going back to re-stock!

Great tour and tasting! Guide was very passionate and enthusiastic about not only whiskey, but the whole process.

Four of us were looking for something interesting to do on a cold Saturday. Had thought of touring 45th Parallel for some time and finally did it. We learned a lot from a tour guide who has lived the distillation business and was willing to answer questions honestly and with a sense of humor.

Had a great time over the weekend at the 45th Parallel Distillery! The tour lasted ~ 45 minutes (and cost $5 per person). The tour guide was very informative - giving not only the history of the company, but also how their spirits are produced ("from grain to glass.") The best part was the tasting at the end, from their premium artisan vokda, to horseradish vodka, to whiskey... their orangecello was my favorite!! They say they are going to start making rum in the future. CNN has ranked this tour as one of their top 10 favorites in the world! http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/23/travel/10-drinker-tours

Who would ever figure there would be a facility like this in such an area? Wonderful tour and learned so much about the distillation process. And afterwards they don't skip at all on the tastings. Let's just say life was good walking out of there.

Start-up distillery was very impressive!Thorough tour and explanation of entire distilling process.Up close and personal views of equipment and start to finish visuals of entire operation. Fun tasting roombar area to conclude the tour. Worth the value. Check outunique Aquavit liquor flavors! Cheers.

My wife and I really enjoyed our recent tour and tasting at 45th Parallel. Our tour guide, Tom, was very personable and knowledgeable. He clearly exuded passion for his job and the high quality products they produce. The informal tour lasted about 45 minutes with lots of time for Q&A and small samples of spirits at various stages of development. The tasting consisted of ample sized samples of their flagship vodka (45th Parallel), gin,their new bourbon, dill aquavit, horseradish vodka, limoncello, and orangecello. Tom did a nice job describing the flavors and what to look for as we sampled each spirit. Everything was available for purchase at about the same price you'd pay in a store (if you're lucky enough to find their products). This was a very fun and informative outing. I'd certainly recommend for anyone who enjoys high quality spirits and desires to know more about what sets products like these apart from some of the other lower cost spirits you'll see in the market.

We visited the distillery because I had purchased a Groupon. The tour was informative and interesting--I had never been to a distillery before, and enjoyed learning about the process of making different types of liquor. I appreciated the company's attention to detail and their partnerships with local farmers--one who grows their grain, and another who uses the distilling byproducts as cattle feed.Their product is of good quality, and the staff also told us where we could find their products in the Twin Cities--both at liquor stores and in bars and restaurants. We liked the vodka and bourbon whiskey. We also tried the gin and their dill-infused aquavit. We weren't brave enough to sample the horseradish vodka, and they were (sadly) temporarily out of limoncello. We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and would consider visiting in the future with friends or out-of-town guests.