This was my second time doing the tour and brought 7 other family members to do the tour as well. Very informational, everyone learned a great deal of how the distillery works. Doing the tour a second time I learned a great deal more than the first time. We will all return again. Each of us purchased a bottle and loved the sampling. Thank you for a fun Saturday family outing.
I booked a tour/tasting for my husband's birthday and I can safely say this was his favorite stop of the day! The staff were accommodating, helpful, and made us feel welcome within the first minute of arriving. The drinks were fantastic and we ended up buying a bottle to take home with us. We will definitely be going back soon!
This was an amazing experience. The facility is unique and lively, but the tour was the best part. Our tour guide was the actual distiller, and he was a wealth of information and very friendly. His passion for making a high quality, grain to glass product was shown at every step of the tour. Hands down, this is the best distillery in the state. We will be back for sure.
Good tour. Great to chat with you all, including Gina and Bill.
A few suggestions. Instead of bringing flights to table, you might consider just having the cards and then taking the cards back to bar and then filling up flights there. It limits the server from having to come to the table with bottles.
The paper we put X on for the drinks we wanted didn't seem to serve any purpose since we just used those cards (where were very cool by the way, and hopefully people take those home so they remember to which ones to buy). Maybe we as NearestYou could partner with you on those cards so people can check the store locator when they get home.
I might also suggest having a tour special to get people to stay longer after tour is over and drink even more. Like a 2-1 or half of their second round of drinks. Or possibly give people a coupon on their return visit. You have my email also now, so it would be great marketing to have people opt in to a marketing email you send to use once a month (not spammy).
Along with my wife and another couple, we did the tour this past Friday night. Having never been before, we were very impressed with the facility, the cleanliness, and all of the folks working there. FNG (can't remember his real name) gave a great tour. The cocktails and samples were all delicious! We had a great time and will definitely be back!
Highly recommend the tour and tasting! Todd did a great job sharing the distilling process and history. We especially liked that J. Carver uses Minnesota resources, with very little waste and a focus on sustainability.
01-15-2017 5:07 PMLook forward to seeing you again!
You are definitely on the short lost of places to go when we have out-of-town guest!
The tour was excellent. Everybody you meet from the distillery either owns part or is directly related. Great informative tour and ample samples. Asks as many questions as you like, they are happy to share. Every spirit has a story...
01-15-2017 5:07 PMLook forward to seeing you again!
You are definitely on the short lost of places to go when we have out-of-town guest!
The tour was excellent. Everybody you meet from the distillery either owns part or is directly related. Great informative tour and ample samples. Asks as many questions as you like, they are happy to share. Every spirit has a story...
First time to J. Carver and we'll definitely be back! The tour was terrific; very fun and informative. The products are unique and delicious, and the cocktails are out of this world (AMAZING bartender!). All of the staff were terrific! It was great having a food truck there and snack options, as well. Had a great evening with friends and can't wait to go back!
11-26-2016 9:41 PM Thanks for a great evening. We had a lot of fun on our visit and tour!
We had a great time during our visit and tour! Thanks so much for a great evening. We learned so much about the art of distilling and really enjoyed tasting the delicious spirits that you make there at J Carver. It's a lot of fun to have great place like that in our community. We brought friends with us and I know will be returning soon!
Deb and Kevin Cooper
We had no idea how spirits were produced, so we found the tour very informative and fun! Our tour guide answered all of our questions and gave us great insight into the distilling process. Thanks!
We found about J. Carver on Groupon- decided to make the trip, and it was more than worth it! The staff is educated, nice and make the tour and full experience a blast. I am not a whiskey drinker, but the Gin and the Vodkas are great. We will for sure be back
We really enjoyed the tour of the distillery. Learned a lot about the process and use of local suppliers. Cool facility and fun people running the business. We'll be back with friends !
We had a great time touring and tasting. Tour guide was knowledgeable and servers in the cocktail room were very helpful in advising our group of 4 how to maximize our tasting to try the largest variety as possible.
We had the most wonderful time at J. Carver Distillery. We will be going back many times. The tour was very informative and FUN. The staff is fantastic. I highly recommend that everyone go visit. Cocktails were YUMMY! Thanks for a awesome visit.
Super fun place to go. The tour was fun and very informative. The whiskey's we tried were all delicious. We liked that it is a Minnesota distillery. So glad we went while they were making Apple Brandy. Would be a fun place to go with friends- bachelor party??
We had a wonderful time!! Everyone was SO knowledgeable and happy to answer questions. Gina was AMAZING she made our cocktails and educated us on how to makes drinks as well as how the different Gins are made. The facility is beautiful,clean,&the staff was very nice!! Thank you!! I am telling EVERYONE I know to come visit!! Thank you J Carver!
10-08-2016 4:54 PMGreat tour, great people,great taste!
Went right out and bought the Lake House Vodka and Grimm Farm Gin - need I say more?! Love buying local, especially when the quality difference is obvious.
On Saturday, October 1, we brought a group of 14 via limo bus to tour and taste. Every employee was eager to please, the tour very, very interesting and the quality of the facility and the product very impressive. We would recommend such an experience to those who are seeking to be educated as well as to find a high-end product. We could tell there was great pride in this endeavor and that buying and working with Minnesota products and producers was important to the founders and investors.
We enjoyed our tour of the distillery. One recommendation I would make is to serve some soda to mix the tastings with. They were too strong alone and water didn't help much to clear palate between tastings. I enjoy by drinks with a mix of some kind. Thanks for the discount coupon to use at the liquor store!
Had a wonderful visit! We learned so much on our tour and loved the product. The J. Carver team is incredibly friendly and clearly love their jobs. Thanks so much!
What a fun unique experience. Staff was so knowledgeable friendly and fun. Felt like we were friends forever. They accommodated us when they certainly did not need too made us feel absolutely welcome. The tour was as entertaining as it was informative! The cocktails were FABULOUS the samples were one of a kind and we will be back!! If your looking for a unique experience and want a great cocktail and love to support Minnesota industry and Spirits this is a must!!
Did not expect the experience to be as great as it was. Enormously exceeded my expectations immediately as Moe gave us the low down on the drinks and flavors to expect. Our tour was terribly interesting and wish it had even been a bit longer. My hope for you is that this venture is a roaring success and your product is sold at many local liquor store and not just the big box ones. A+
Enjoyed the distillery tour, very informational. Enjoyed the tasting also, you have some very good products (and I now have some at home as well!) Your service, however, was a little scattered. We did get a wrong drink first, and the service was a little slow. Perhaps it was a bigger crowd than you anticipated. I will be back, however.
We met friends for a tour and tasting and weren't disappointed! Very informative tour and love the cards with the tasting for the details. Great cocktails and staff too!
Our group had a great experience. Todd was our guide and was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Bill spoke with us after the tour and talked with us for a while about trends and other things going on in the booze world. Enjoyed our tastings and cocktails. Definitely interested in a return trip.
My husband and I and my parents really enjoyed the tour! Lots of great information and a fun time. I wish you much success and will get the word out on your products!
Greatly enjoyed our tour at the J Carver Distillery. We were greeted with a warm welcome form multiple staff members who quickly filled our drink order and visited with us prior to the tour. The tour was interesting and the tour guide (Bill) was engaged and funny. Highly recommend J Carer Distillery to all friends and family
06-09-2016 8:25 PMThe "Best Kept Secret" Everyone SHOULD Be Talking About!
We toured the distillery last weekend, and are so impressed with the operations, the products and the people who hosted us. I thought the tour was really interesting and enjoyed the candidness of our tour guide. The free cocktail while we toured was a really nice touch! The information I learned on the tour made me appreciate the products we sampled afterward all the more! The atmosphere of the cocktail room was fun and casual; the staff was engaging and super friendly. We will absolutely, definitely, with utmost certainty be coming back!
Very much enjoyed the tour. It was very informative. Instead of cocktails, an option for some of your product with water on the rocks would have been nice.
I visited J Carver Distillery for the first time this past weekend with 3 friends. We did the tour and tasting. We each purchased a cocktail for the tour (the Sister Thyme was fantastic!) and we all really enjoyed the tour and found it to be really interesting. The tasting was good, too, although none of us are big straight alcohol drinkers. It was a really fun and unique outing.
I get it, it's not a bar...but it's awesome. Well worth the visit, very cozy atmosphere. We'll be back! Keep up the great work!
Oh, and be sure to give the barrel aged gin a try, very smoooooth.
Couldn't have left with a better impression of your business, and team. Everything was done with class, and the tasting truly shows that attention to detail. Will definitely be back !
This was our 2nd time visiting the distillery. We really enjoyed our first visit and wanted to share the experience w family and friends. The cocktails were delicious and we especially enjoyed the new Bourbon! Although our guide was obviously passionate about his job, the tour was a bit too technical and we felt like we learned a lot more about the process the first time through.
We look forward to future visits!
I recently did the tour with my girlfriend.
I'm a home brewer, long time whisky drinker, I have always enjoyed checking out the local craft breweries and wineries.
J. Carver adds a much needed experience for the beginner to the professional liquor aficionado!
The tour was informative, fun, and interesting! You can definitely feel the passion they put onto every bottle and the excitement they have to be able to share this new experience with us!
Really great experience! The people at J. Carver Distillery are passionate about what they do and they love to share their passion and knowledge with others. I highly recommend the tour of the distillery!
J. Carver Distillery. What a wonderful place. I had no idea how complicated the process was. Although I don't drink that type of alcohol much, I found the distillery concept much more interesting than wineries and breweries. The food truck is a great asset when they are there. The tastings were interesting after having a tour explaining the process with the different ingredients. I did have a Cranberry Bad Boy and it was pretty delicious! Awesome place, people!
After meeting, chatting and sampling from J. Carver at Cocktailian, I decided to book a tour for a group of four at the distillery in Waconia. Very friendly upon arrival, and the cocktails in the sampling room were very good. Eclectic and interesting. The tour was more informative than we had expected, and the facilities are quite impressive. It's a larger operation than we had expected, but still only run by a small handful of folks. We had a wonderful time, and I will definitely be back with more friends! Oh, and thanks for the dining tip in Waconia. Iron Tap was exactly what we wanted: great craft taps and good food which belied the simple setting. A fabulous afternoon all around!
My husband, daughter, son in law, and I visited J Carver Distillery and participated in a tour on 110715. We were very impressed with the tour, particularly with the tour guide who just happened to be the owner. It was informative and fun. We had a great time and look forward to returning for a future visit.
We had such a great time! The tour was interesting and informative, and we loved getting a chance to sample your fantastic products. We'll definitely be back once the whiskey starts coming:-)
The environment was intimate and the tastes were unique when my wife and I visited J Carver last Friday. The brief tour gave us knowledge we'd never had before on spirits, and the passion for the product was apparent in everyone working there. We love that we're now part of this young distillery's story--being able to come back frequently and watch its maturation! Can't wait for the Rye!
The staff was very friendly and gave us a warm greeting upon entering the tasting room. Matt was our tour guide and he did a great job, provided us with a detailed tour of everything from start to finish. This distillery has some really cool machinery, you won't be disappointed.
We had an awesome time, we learned a lot and got to try some of their awesome products. It's a great place to hang out with a group of friends and have some cocktails. Highly recommended.
We took a tour at J. Carver Distillery on June 13th, which was our first visit of a distillery. We scheduled our appointment online in a very simple process. The tour was short, but very informative and was led by one of the owner/distillers. We learned a lot about the whole process and what makes J. Carver standout from other distilleries. We were impressed with their commitment to locally sourced ingredients and the alternate use of some byproducts of the distilling process.
The tour ends with a stop at their sampling bar and the opportunity to select up to four taste samples from their current offerings of vodka, gin & grappa. The unique & distinctive flavors of each item we sampled were very enjoyable. The bar attendants are very informed and provided interesting conversation during our visit to the sampling bar. We were able buy an additional shot of an item during our visit. Each guest is given a discount card to purchase any of their products at a local liquor store the day of the tour, which we took advantage of before heading home. The visit took about an hour and was very enjoyable.
