Booming Distill America showcases growing Wisconsin industry

The first time Paul Werni booked a booth at Distill America in 2009, all he had available to sample from his 45th Parallel Distillery was vodka.

“It was in a small room at the old Edgewater (Hotel), and there were maybe 15 or 16 tables,” Werni said.

Many of these domestic distillers were big national brands, he recalled. A few smaller vendors came mostly from Michigan, New York and California.

Flash forward through a craft cocktail boom and an accompanying explosion in small-batch spirits, and Wisconsin distilling has caught up. At Breese Stevens Field this past weekend, Werni’s New Richmond distillery was one of about 80 vendors, more than 30 from Wisconsin.

Vendors ranged in size from Awildan Distillery (a one-man show in Sun Prairie) to big bourbon producers like Four Roses, Bulleit and Knob Creek. Attendees sipped limited release whiskey, vodka, gin, rum and a variety of liqueurs, as well as ready-to-drink cocktails.

Werni and his team brought a full slate of spirits to Madison, including dill aquavit — a bartender favorite, particularly in the Twin Cities — and a new whiskey with honey that went out to distributors on May 30, the day before the fest.

The chance to try new spirits is one reason attendees come back. Distill America organizer and co-founder Fred Swanson, now with Dancing Goat Distillery in Cambridge, estimated about 800 people came this year to visit an increasing number of stand-alone booths and two big tents at the center.

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