Recently, the Booze Whisperer and I had the opportunity to tour the distillery of 45th Parallel Spirits in New Richmond, Wisconsin. 45th Parallel is a true distillery in that they are actually creating mash from grain and distilling it for their 45th Parallel vodka, rather than purchasing bulk spirits and reblending them. Their grain is sourced from a single family farm that is located within ten miles of the distillery.
Owner Paul Werni greeted us immediately with a welcoming smile. He introduced us to sales manager, Deb Hale and then turned us over to his former college roommate and fellow distiller, Scott Davis. As Scott walked us through the distillation process, we got to inspect the precisely ground corn that goes into the vodka.
After strolling by the fermentation station, we got to get up close and personal with the copper distiller. Standing forty feet tall, the vertical column allows for a slow distillation and better quality, Davis explains. The vodka is distilled exactly three times, and Werni and Davis have made a deliberate choice to stop there in order to allow the spirit to retain some of its individual characteristic, rather than pursuing a completely neutral spirit.
The vodka is very smooth and definitely retains a slight, pleasant corn essence, managing to avoid the harshness of many corn based vodkas. At the tasting bar, we also sample the horseradish infused vodka and limoncello. The horseradish has an earthy, sensual mouth feel and is surprisingly able to retain all the horseradish flavor without the heat I was expecting. The limoncello is sweet, bright and summery: perfect to keep in the freezer and sip on a hot day.
45th Parallel offers tours and tastings on a regular basis. This is a great way to learn more about your local spirits so check out a local distillery in your area! Cheers from the Bar Fly!
