Ascendant Spirits Distillery & Tasting Room

What a great place! They offer three tastes for $ 5 or six tastes for $ 10. I was most interested in the three bourbons, so I only tried those (at first). Anna led our tasting, and was very knowledgeable about everything. The bourbons were all good, but the wheated stood out to me. Better than Maker’s Mark, I’d say. When we were done, Anna asked if we wanted a tour of the facility for free (even though they offer a tour as part of a different, more expensive, package). Again, she was very knowledgeable about the entire process, and we got to see the master distiller at work. It was one of the better behind-​the-​scenes booze tours I’ve had. When we finished up, she offered to take a picture of me and my wife in front of the still, and offered us one more taste for free. We tried the gin — holy crap is it good! One of the smoothest gins I’ve ever tried. Not overly juniper-​y, and exceptionally sip-​able. The only bummer is that they can’t sell bottles because of their licensing situation. We’ll have to look for it elsewhere. I highly recommend checking this place out if you’re in Buellton.

We took an unplanned detour to this tasting room. Apropos of nothing, I asked of a tasting room staffer if there were any distilleries nearby. How lucky for us! He knew of Ascendance and we found our way here. Chandler gave a great explanation of their distilling techniques, the corn that goes into each vodka, whiskey or moonshine, and the fruits they use for distilling. He took us back into the warehouse and we toured the equipment and spoke with the owner. I love to learn new things, and Chandler is full of great anecdotes and insights. We immediately went down the street to purchase the lime infused vodka, but it was all delicious and we will be keeping our eyes out for Ascendance in our stores!

I’m not a bourbon fan, but you can tell they are passionate about their craft! Try the spicy ghost pepper vodka, wow! And their bourbon was smooth. First distillery in Santa Barbara county since prohibition!

This place is awesome. One of the master distiller’s passion is bourbon and he makes a great one. They also make an array of vodkas and moonshines. Their infused vodkas are amazing and infused with real caviar limes and ghost peppers, we were lucky to there while they were infusing. Never going to buy a factory vodka again. I highly recommend a visit as this is the very early stages of the craft spirit revolution and Ascendent is a one of the top stars. You taste for free and can’t buy bottles here because of our great liquor laws but they will tell you where you can get them locally. I can’t wait for the rule changes so I can have this stuff shipped to my house

Don’t go expecting a fancy and large tasting room. This is a pokey little storefront that can handle two groups at most. However, the spirits are excellent and the mini tour on request is informative if you ask the right questions and if you are into looking a large metal containers that are quite steampunk.

A must when u visit Solvang area. Friendly staff, affordable tastings interesting to learn about the process of spirit making. The vodka and whiskey are delicious!!!

Amazing bourbon, vodka, and other spirits. Went here after wine tasting and couldn’t be happier with the product and experience. Great company.
My only complaint is that they can’t sell bottles on site!

Silver Lightning Moonshine is ultra-​premium moonshine with floral and maize (from the 100% American yellow corn) notes and a mildly sweet finish. It is also received the 2013 Double Gold Winner at the New York International Spirits Competition. The SoCal Moonshine Flash is a fun drink with the agave syrup adding a caramel-​like flavor and tangy zing from lime juice. The lime juice actually softens the moonshine’s harsh bite (straight up). It’s strong stuff but could easily be used as a vodka alternative.
American Star Vodka is made from 100% American corn. It is distilled five times in a copper still to reach the highest level of purity and finished with a rigorous innovative filtration process. American Star Vodka has a clean taste, slight hint of sweetness with smooth peppery finish. It recently received 95 points from Drink Me Magazine. The American in Moscow cocktail is a blend of American Star Vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer. It tastes like a sparkling screwdriver. I think it would work better with orange juice for a sweeter flavor, otherwise very refreshing.
Breaker Bourbon is blended from only eight carefully hand chosen barrels that have been aged for at least five years. The base is corn, rye, and malted barley and twice distilled in a copper still. The Gold Rush cocktail is made with Breaker Bourbon, lemon juice, and honey syrup. This is a stiff bourbon and will definitely put some hair on your chest, but the lemon juice and honey syrup help take the edge off.

Thanks for the bottling party experience last night! I learned a lot, met some great people, and had a good time. Best day of work ever! Looking forward to many more. The staff are knowledgeable and friendly. I can’t get over the great aromas of the lightning.

Great little distillery! Everything I’ve tasted has been amazing… My favorite bourbon by far, lots of great flavor and the vodka is fantastic as well. These guys know what they’re doing and it’s fun to do the tour and check out the science and craft behind the product. I can’t wait to get in on one of the bottling parties.
The only bummer is that you can’t buy it on site (thanks to state rules), but lots of local markets have it, and it’s worth every penny.

Artisan spirits at their finest. Free tour and tastings here that make for a nice break from wine tasting. Outstanding vodka… I really enjoyed it and I’m not a vodka fan, and the bourbon was very impressive. They have a gin and a lime vodka planned for the future.
Four stars because you can’t buy product here, although that’s California’s fault, not the distillery’s. You can buy around the corner at the market however and I suggest you do.