Our Story

Back in 2007 at the Great Taste of the Midwest, Fred Swanson, an organizer of the Great Taste, approached Adam Casey, a manager at Star Liquor, with a question:

"How you think an event like this would work with spirits?"

Star Liquor had been organizing small tasting events around Madison for years, often with distillers themselves when they were visiting town.  So after a little discussion a meeting was set up between Fred and Star Liquor owner Jerry Mogensen, who himself had been talking about setting up such an event. 

At that meeting it was decided that such an event was viable and "A Celebration of American Distilling" was born. A few years later the name would be shortened to Distill America. 

The first event was held at The Edgewater Hotel in Madison in February of 2009. There were around 25 distilleries represented. Over the years the event has grown to routinely host around 100 distilleries. 

The Madison Malt Society is the organization that has organized Distill America throughout its history. It has always been a not-for-profit, all volunteer organization committed to putting on an event that both educates and raises money for a wide variety of charities over the years.

Current and former organizers include: Jerry Mogensen, Fred Swanson, Adam Casey , Kevin Guthrie , Scott Maurer, Don McCreath, Michael Paré & Joe Tarpey.

Thank you to all the countless event volunteers who help us pull this off every year.