Mid-Oak Distillery, Inc.

This place was fun. I vodka is actually pretty good, nice and smooth.
We went for the tasting which give you 8 samples (before you get too excited these are small sample, maybe half a shot size) and you can have a choice of 12-15 variations. I enjoy vodka so I had it neat most of the time but my wife had tried the other variety of vodka drinks and flavored vodka.

We also went on the tour, which was interesting. It is a small place so the tour was rather quick. My one suggestion is to offer the tour at the begging of the tasting because we went with a group of people and there were some people in our group that couldn't care less about the tour after 8 vodka drinks...... just saying.

Vodka's origins are to be debated. In Russian it was first created for the queen and upper class. In fact, it was a crime for those in the lower echelons to produce vodka and this is where CD vodka got its name. CD stands for Catalina Dynastii, the fortunate, the few, the elite members of Russia given the privilege to make and enjoy vodka. Luckily, we live in 'merica and vodka arrived and thrives and is available for all. So come to MOD to practice your free rights to drink and to bash Amendment 18 (the prohibition of alcohol) and celebrate the passing of Amendment 21 (the repeal of Amendment 18)!!

True Vodka - colorless, tasteless, odorless. I can attest not all vodka fits this description, particularly the bottles floating around my college town.... After sampling 8 drinks with CD vodka ranging from fruity, sour, expresso, minty and anything in between I still can't tell ya if CD fits the definition of true vodka because I never sipped the unflavored vodka by itself.  

Unfortunately as a responsible adult and one that doesn't only stick to bars in walking distance, I had to lay low for the night. I stuck to the Mixed drinks and sampled a few other things. The mixed martinis were like fruit juice. I could not taste any vodka in any of the four but they still were super tasty. I sampled the coffee vodka with Bayleys knock off brand- delish (As a big fan of Bayleys (and knock off brands) you'd have to add rubbing alcohol for me to not like it), the lemon vodka tonic- winner! Towards the end I was reminded I can't drink like I used to. Shucks.  
 
This is small place, tucked away in a strip mall. Seating is sparse in the interior. About four bar stools are available at the bar and there are two to three round tables available for drinkers standing only. More than two or three groups of tasters would make it seem crowded which as it became rather quickly as we were leaving. I suggest you arrive early or with lots of patience.

The pourer was friendly and knowledgable. She was not overbearing, but was quick to ask if we wanted our next sample when our glasses were empty.  

Our expired Groupon (which they honored with a smile :) included "light appetizers." We went with chips and salsa. Tostitos chips and Pace salsa. I advise the owners of MOD to scrap the light appetizers for any future deals and coupons. It is kind of a let down. Word to the wise- Patrons, eating more before equals drinking more later, particularly when you are the DD.

The tour consisted of a 5 minute schpeel on the basic production of vodka. Little is to be seen on the tour besides the distiller, everything else is covered in boxes.

From speaking to the employee, CD vodka has outgrown their space and bought the unit next door. They are currently distributing in 5 Midwest states.  I wish them best of luck in the future and the power to win over all the vodka drinkers of the world!

I bought a groupon MONTHS ago and well...it was about to expire soon so I booked my 4 person tour, tasting with appetizers and a bottle of vodka deal.

Setting up the appointment via groupon was easy enough.  We arrived right before our 8pm appointment and were told to line up at the bar for our tasting - this came with 8 samples of their vodka, some were mixed, some were served via shot.  About half way through our tasting we had a choice of either a cheese/cracker platter or chips & salsa.  We got the cheese/crackers and that was sufficient.  I wasn't thinking we were going to get chicken fingers or anything so it was fine.  Michelle was our server there, she was very friendly, and very helpful...she even let us in on what was in the drinks we were sampling, such as the "smurf".  

We were not given a tour, but no biggie...it's definitely something to check out.  They have tastings an all kinds of things going on in there and would be well worth your time if you're up to doing something different!