Birthday Reflections from State Line Distillery Founder John Mleziva

What a year it’s been….

When running a business, it’s easy to get swept up in the endless hustle and bustle. The daily to-do lists and constant planning several months ahead can fill up a calendar pretty quickly. One of the great things about a birthday is it is a perfect opportunity to stop for a moment and reflect on the previous year—and what a year it’s been! In July we released our first whiskey, State Line American Single Malt Whiskey, and I couldn’t be prouder of this spirit. It is a blend of barley from the Driftless Region of Wisconsin paired with peated malted barley we imported from Scotland. The result is a beautiful whiskey that has notes of dried stone fruit, honey, vanilla, and pecans all balanced by subtle peaty smoke on the finish. If you haven’t had it yet, I’d highly recommend you stop by the distillery to pick up a bottle before it’s gone.

When I started State Line Distillery, I made a conscious decision to lay down American Single Malt Whiskey not because I knew that 6 years later the category would be growing at an incredible rate, but because I have a deep love and appreciation of Scottish Single Malt Whisky. The incredible show of support from all our fans at our whiskey release party made an already amazing day extra special for all of us who work at State Line Distillery—thank you to everyone who came out and supported us, and to all of you for continuing to support us every day!

If releasing American Single Malt Whiskey wasn’t enough, State Line Coffee Liqueur was awarded a Double Gold medal and named Best of Class at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition this past year. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the oldest and most well-established competition of its kind with more than 6,500 applicants each year, making it the Super Bowl of the spirits industry. All of this to say it was a big deal that a small craft distillery located in Madison, WI took home the highest award for our locally produced Coffee Liqueur.

Receiving this award led to an introduction with legendary NFL quarterback and future Hall of Famer, Drew Brees, which eventually turned into a partnership. Our goal is to work together to tell the world about our amazing Coffee Liqueur. What I love about this partnership is how we both feel so strongly about authenticity being at the center of what we do.

We have set our sights high for what we will accomplish in 2024, but rest assured that our focus on who we are and how we got to this moment will stay at the center of all we do. We take a great deal of pride in being a local distillery from Madison, WI that partners with other local producers to distill award-winning, world-class spirits. Until next time, we’ll see you at State Line!

Cheers!
John Mleziva
Founder, State Line Distillery