Ledgerock Distillery
- Cru and Hannah
- Nov 7, 2025
- 5 min read
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Crusin' Rating: A
Booze Rating: C-
This week, we are continuing to explore Fond du Lac with the Thirsty Badger and Thirsty Bobcat. Hot off the heels of checking out Ziegler Winery, we decided to move on to a distillery to close out our day - Ledgerock Distillery fit the bill! We went in fairly blind to Ledgerock - so we didn’t fully know what to expect - but you know that we often enjoy going in without any preconceived notions.
We pulled up to Ledgerock on a county road and were surprised by what we saw. Not only was the building clean enough to look brand new, (it’s been open for 7 years), but it had incredibly lustrous copper accents on a field of black metal. We’ve seen some copper tanks before, maybe a copper sign, but never copper used as part of the building before that I can recall - it really made an impression on us as it glinted in the early fall sunlight - that, and - the insane amount of cars that were parked in the parking lot and beyond. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Ledgerock prides itself in hosting events - booked at least a year in advance. We stumbled upon the Ledge Games that looked to have drawn about 200 or more people participating in axe throwing, keg tossing, imbibing cocktails or Leine’s beer from a beer trailer, and snacking on offerings from several food trucks. We don’t know what it looks like on a typical day, but it was absolutely abuzz with activity outside during our review.
Ledgerock is owned by the Retzler family and is located on their 500 acre farm. We came to learn that they truly are seed to spirit: grain is grown, harvested, stored, ground, distilled, bottled and labeled by the members of the family and then enjoyed right there on the property. We’ve seen grain to glass before, and we’ve known breweries to partner with farmers nearby - but to our knowledge - Ledgerock is one-of-a-kind as far as the entire operation - planting, growth, harvesting, and then distillation is all done on the same property, much less the same family. Needless to say, we thought this was just incredible. So of course, we tried a flight, followed by a test cocktail as we took in some of the competitions and enjoyed the afternoon coming to an end.
Frostbite Gin (45.0% ABV) - With just enough juniper in to meet the minimum requirement of gin, this gin also features bitter orange peel and coriander to keep the pine-tasting influence to a manageable amount. We got notes of lemon, juniper, low coriander, and low pepper when checking out the aroma here. The taste was similar, with a definite note of sweetness in there, balanced out by low juniper, and a little dried citrus peel in there. This was highly drinkable by itself as nothing was really jumping out to overwhelm your palate.
Grandview Garden Gin (40.0% ABV) - This 100% corn-derived gin is infused with juniper, sweet orange peel, coriander, and then infused with rose hips which give it a distinct golden color. This gin has a nose of orange peel, floral notes, with muted spice. Very strong orange flavor notes, but with a distinction that you can definitely tell its the peel - as opposed to juice or flesh of the fruit. It doesn’t go as far as to be orange-liqueur (think triple sec) but is definitely the most orange forward and floral gin we have tried. I think this would be a good gin to give to someone who dislikes gin. I think without those notes of juniper, to me, this gin turns sweet and is a little out of balance. But we learned that the distiller isn’t a big fan of big juniper gins, so he made something that he would like. I do like some notes of bright citrus and herbaceousness in my gins for sure, but for my taste, this one leaned a little too sweet.
The Thirsty Badger made note “You can definitely tell there’s some extra botanical $%#! in it for sure.”
Retzer Farm Bourbon (46.0% ABV) - This wheated bourbon featured notes of low vanilla, new oak, cinnamon on the nose. Tasting had some tannic notes from the barrel, light alcohol burn, along with some caramel. It finished with strong notes of butterscotch.
Farmboy Bourbon (45.0% ABV) - This wheated bourbon, with 30% of the mashbill featuring it, had sweet notes of maples syrup, honey, and vanilla custard. Tasting resulted in notes of butterscotch and caramel corn with a finish that featured notes of white pepper.
I have respect for someone who goes against the grain to tweak spirits to their taste, for sure. While the gins might not have been my favorite cup of tea (I do enjoy a bold gin here and there) they are definitely going to be approachable to those who don’t love juniper bombs or associate gin with the taste of Christmas tree. I’m eager to see how the bourbon continues to evolve and the different expressions that come out of Ledgerock as well. While we each tried a cocktail, we all agreed that the cocktails tended to lean sweet and were mostly juice-based mixers and a spirit. That’s perfectly fine for a lot of folks, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that approach, especially when they are affordable. We ruminated on what a more robust cocktail menu could do to showcase some of these spirits though and letting the products shine a little more. I think that Grandview Gin could make a statement in a classic (non-dirty) martini. And I think the bourbons could be shown off in an old-fashioned. I don’t know if they are ever going to be a spot that’s doing wild and out there cocktails, and I don’t know if I’d really want them to be that out there - but I do have hope for the cocktail program to evolve a little beyond juicy mixers. I think there’s good bones in some of those bottles and I think that they could prove a good backbone to cocktails that allow those flavor profiles to shine through. But again, I also wouldn’t be surprised if they want to keep the drinks simple and affordable and that’s the vibe they are going to stick with.
You know we here at Crusin' For Booze are proud to be support everyone here in Wisconsin and always love to see those imbiberies that, in turn, support local farmers. Ledgerock is run by a farmer that just decided to up and keep everything in house - to say it is impressive is not saying enough. Even if the cocktails could use some refinement, even if the booze isn’t your absolute favorite - I think you should make the trip out here - if you care about supporting local farmers, keeping the booze scene to Wisconsin local to our state, or seeing what a family can accomplish when working together - it’s an easy day trip from Milwaukee, Madison, or even Green Bay - so check them out.
Until next time, keep on crusin’, don’t stop boozin’!
To learn more about Ledgerock Distillery please visit their website at: www.ledgerockdistillery.com or on Facebook: Ledgerock Distillery or on Instagram: @LedgerockDistillery