Spirit Works Distilling

A fun distillery in the Barlow run by a great husband-wife team. Normally you can go behind-the-scenes to see the distilling process, and taste a variety of their spirits in the tasting room. Fun for locals and tourists. An all around great place to get great spirits and experience something unique! ❤️

Unique distillery in the Barlow! You can learn about distilling process, and taste a variety of their spirits in the tasting room. The owners are nice and the place is clean and well kept. Looking forward to it opening back soon. You can still get great spirits during Covid.

I was brought here by family and friends. I did not want to come. I don’t drink hard liquor. I was very excited and kinda blown away by the cocktails. They were so delicious and flavorful. I’m a fan. 10/10

Phenomenal! Rebecca and staff are knowledgeable and fun! Great craft spirits and cocktails. Cool location within The Barlow District. Gin, Vodka, Whiskey extraordinaire. Big fun and check out the tour too! Yes!!!

Great local distillery! Went on a Sunday afternoon and we were the only two there. Was able to ask the staff all sorts of questions about their spirits. Ended up bringing home a rye vodka! Highly recommend the current extraordinary gin 003 too. Very interesting taste.

Great experience, fun times! Bartender/hostess was knowledgeable and sweet. Thank you!

They provide a friendly tasting and deduct $5 off the bottle price after a tasting. From the tasting room you can see their large beautiful copper Carl still through a large glass window. All of their spirits were pretty good, a particularly nice vodka. We ended up taking the barrel aged gin home.

Always a fun place for tasting spirits. An exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable staff. Their Rye and Gin have unique taste profiles. Located in a great shopping area with breweries, a good winery and delicious food choices.

Spirit Works Distillery is a nice distillery located in The Barlow. It's a little tucked away but worth a visit. They have bar seating as well as some lounge areas and tables. Directly behind the bar you can see where the process happens from milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling, and bottling. Spirit Works hand crafts Gin, Vodka, Sloe Gin and Whiskey all on site.  They offer a flight tasting or two tastes with a cocktail option. If you go for the cocktail option, please note CA law only always allows a distillery to serve 1.5oz of alcohol per person so there are no other tastes or cocktails available. Someone in my group was excited about the Sloe Gin but wasn't able to try it after ordering the two tastes and cocktail. Just means they have to come back for a visit again the future. The cost is a little over $20 for the two tastes with a cocktail. I had the Vital Springs cocktail with Vodka, basil, mint, lime, ginger and Thai spiced bitters. The cocktail was really good and refreshing.  They also have cocktail kits available and for purchase that includes the alcohol, simple syrup, bitters and mixers.  This is a great spot in The Barlow!

Very small, cute tasting room at the end of the building. Plenty of parking on the side or in back. We didn't need a reservation on a slow Friday afternoon so we got a spot at the bar. We got the 2-taste with 1-cocktail option, and apparently the CA law is that a distillery can't serve more than 1.5oz of alcohol per person, so it's just a couple of sips and a half-sized drink. For 2 people it came to about $50. **Don't forget to check in on Yelp when you arrive to save 50%! I knew of this offer and I forgot so we paid full price.** The bartender was fun, and the drinks were tasty. Definitely try the Sloe Gin! So unique and flavorful, it was the best drink I had all day. Another cool thing is that you can buy cocktail kits that include alcohol, simple syrup, bitters, and mixers for about $70 -$100 depending on the liquor you choose. Would return.

If you love sporits this is your place to get some delicious unique one of a kind.. The batches of Whiskey,bourbon,gin and others are made her..yum..I went here with my wife and did a sample pack of whiskey..Yum.. totally different from your day to day whiskey..My wife got a cocktail and two gins ..she was very impressed how they tasted.. plus the hostess-manager sat with us and gave us a background on all our samples and different ideas on how to drink and mix.. Really knowledgeable and super cool..I would definitely go here if you want to try something different without hurting your wallet a very good experience Elaina was awesome totally recommend here for your go to knowledge on spirits..

Barrel Gin amber color from barrel, citrus flavor over powers juniper Wheat Whiskey definitely sharp, good aroma Single Malt (tasting room exclusive) deeper color, modest nose, more mellow Rye deepest color, smoother, fragrant, hint of vanilla, note of brown sugar Wheat Vodka not a fan. Service very good, knowledgeable Local, fun visit with out-of-town guests

Tip: don't stumble upon this place on an empty stomach. Walked in to Spirit Works and what a find! Timing was perfect as it was empty so we eagerly agreed to a tasting. A couple from Chicago arrived quickly after us so the four of us enjoyed learning all about spirits, processing, history and flavor profiles. I had no clue! People started pouring into the place and it was packed by tie time we left. I realized how lucky we were with timing and would definitely recommend a reservation on the weekend! I'm not a straight spirit girl but the bourbon was so smooth. My fav! I chose the 3 spirits and a cocktail and must say, that cocktail was perfect. It was in honor of the Beer 5k/10k that ended at the Barlow. Fun, interesting, intoxicating.

They are a world class operation. Deserving of recognition and respect. I was a Club member for years and recommend ordering them at any and all establishments that serve them. I'm particularly fond of their Bourbons.

We're back!! Round 2 reviews!! In addition to my mandatory reserve sloe gin purchase, I also picked up the Wheat Whiskey, and a Rye vodka. Rye vodka is new to me and I really liked the sweetness it had. We ended up getting the Echo-lada cocktail kit too. It's basically a whiskey based pina colada. Yummy!!

It was a great experience to visit and taste experience of SLOE GIN! WoW my 3 sons loved it!

This place was located in the Barlow District! Felt like it was a hidden gem since it was in the back; we kinda just stumbled upon it. You can do flights and cocktails tasting! I definitely recommend the cocktails, they were pretty good. The pours were a tad small but the experience made up for it. All the decorations they had were cute, especially the empty bottles. The Sloe Gin was my favorite because it gave off this fruity after taste. I didn't realize you could do a tour too! Enjoy your experience? Grab some stickers, t-shirts, and some sauces! Overall, great service! The bartenders were super friendly and gave us some recommendations for our stay. We ended up bringing the rest of the group the next day. PS, make sure to check-in for 50% off some tasting. (:

Cute little distillery in The Barlow. We did a flight and I did majority whisky/bourbon as I'm not a big gin drinker. It was cool sitting at the bar with the area in which they distill visible through a window. It was a fun experience and I highly recommend checking it out. I think my favorite part was discovering Sloe Gin - I really really enjoyed it and theirs makes a killer sloe gin fizz.

This is the second time I've been here. We stumbled upon this place in January when it was pouring rain. It was great. The bar tenders were so nice and held good conversation. We were the only ones there due to the weather! I like getting a cocktail and two tastings. We ended up coming back exactly one month later.

First visit to The Barlow, very charming gathering spot. Spirit Works is a bit tucked away in the center, but worth seeking out. They have a cute, eclectic decorated tasting room. We had a reservation for a tasting and our area was waiting for us when we arrived. We enjoyed the flight tastings for the In-Grained Classics & the Gin-Tuition flights. Also had the peach & ginger scrub mocktails The stand outs for our group were the Barrel Gin, Sloe Gin & Ginger Scrub Mocktail. The staff was outstanding and very knowledgeable. We so enjoyed our visit to Spirit Works and highly recommend.

Spirit Works is an incredible distillery. Feels like they are filming an episode of "Friends" here. You will enjoy no matter what distilled spirits you are looking for.

Our future son-in-law loves spirits. Even though we were celebrating my birthday this weekend, I really wanted to include adventures everyone enjoys. Last time we were at The Barlow in Sebastopol I saw the spirits tasting sign and instantly cataloged it in my head as a future adventure. So, this was it. We were greeted right as we walked in and seated immediately. We enjoyed everything our host taught us, especially how to enjoy the subtle aromas of spirits--put your nose in the glass and breath through your mouth. WOW! Everything was delightful! We will be back for a tour. They are Sundays at 4pm.

Come on it's great liquor!!!! But it's not a bar, you can get a special in house mixed drink or you can taste a flight like I did. I was surprised by the sloe gin it wasn't too sweet and kinda just right.

I am still learning all of the different gins and whiskeys out there. This was a great place to start. A small family run distillery ( which I didn't know we had any in California until I met people from St. George in Alameda.) The set up is fantastic- you can choose flights of gin, whiskey or a cocktail and then a couple of tastes of one of their spirits. The service provided by Zakai was outstanding! Knowledgeable and not pushy, the spirits sell themselves. I was introduced to something called Sloe Gin which I believe is my new favorite thing!!! This is a great place in Sonoma County to have something other than wine. I believe they only sell their alcohol at their location so you wont find it in Total Wine and More which is also a nice feature- getting something you can only get from the distillery directly. I cannot wait to go back and try a cocktail next time.

Really amazing craft spirits tasting experience- their barrel aged gin redefines my feelings about gin.

Tasting flight experience is a must try! Great service and superb whiskey with surprising gin selections . Make sure to reserve your spot as they get pretty busy on weekends. Thanks, Zakia for an informative and enjoyable tasting experience.

Updating my review - already said I loved the craft spirits, they're made superbly and it's a beautiful space. Most of the time when I have a bad experience I call them up and tell them. A poor review lasts too long to take it out on an entire business. One of the owners wrote me, offered an apology (wasn't there attitude or fault) and offered to come back. How much better can you do than that?! Class Act

The Reason Why I Love Gin Now! SITREP A trek up to Sebastopol to the Spirit Works Distillery apparently is all it took to change a lifelong disdain for Gin. THE SETUP I was not a Gin fan before, to be perfectly honest. I love Whiskey. Have always been a fan of Rum. I like Vodka...A LOT. But Gin? Never really gave it much thought. But what Jessica & Emily at Spirit Works Distillery were able to do was to EDUMACATE me on the wonderful history of Gin. And even MORE important, share the fact that all Gin starts out from the Vodka process to begin with anyways - so why the big fuss on my part? GINS So after watching the distillery process, and hearing the history of this wonderful spirit, and then sampling an amazing variety of Spirit Work's varietals of gin, I was did a COMPLETE 180 Degree turn on Gin. SLOE GIN And there is one varietal of gin here at Spirit Works I have to really spotlight, and that is their Sloe Gin - it comes in the regular varietal and there is also a Reserve Sloe Gin. These are amazing both amazing spirits. THE LOWDOWN If you had your doubts before about Gin, this is a wonderful stop in Sebastopol that MAY make you reconsider you opinion about this delicious spirit.

Initially I had my hesitations about the Barlow, but a few of the locations, including Spirit Works made me reconsider my judgments. Plus Spirit Works has a dog, so I automatically give them three stars for in-house cuteness. I've been here three times, every time they have been outgoing, friendly, and very well-spoken, even when my mom rudely told the attendant that all their products "smell like windex, and taste like what she uses to clean the shower." GEE THANKS MOM. Despite the musings of that crazy person, they were unperturbed, and continued to treat us better than we deserved with that comment. My favorite in the beginning was the Sloe Gin, finding the information about the Sloe berry to be quite interesting. The Sloe is technically a plum, with a pit in the middle, but is smaller, the size of a berry. It's also a non-native, invasive species, so we're really doing the world a favor by picking it and making it into something so wonderfully delicious. Invasive? I'd like it to invade my palate more often! Gin was fresh, clean and crisp. Even my Gin aficionado better half was pleasantly surprised at its drinkability. We both liked the vodka, and were interested in learning on the machines how the distillery works. Very fun. Can't wait till they can sell from the location, which in addition to the absolute CHAOS of trying to find parking there, are the only downsides. Perfect addition to the region.

Great place to visit when you gotta scratch that spirit itch. I will definitely be back. I really enjoyed their Rye whiskies that were finished in a sherry or port barrel. I had no experience (or maybe just no recollection due to missing grey cells) of trying Sloe Gin before. The blueberry flavor of the one I tried was surprising, and nice, but a little too fruity for my liking. They had a special gin or vodka that they were sampling that was nice too. I walked out with a bottle of their Rye Whiskey that was aged in the Sherry casks, so you know what my favorite was...

I bought a Groupon for the tour. It was a blast. I highly recommend going. The sprits were so good too and they have awesome stuff to buy in the shop for making amazing cocktails. We had such a great time. We talked about it for days 2nd visit as guests with our friends who are members. Love coming here. The staff is so Friendly and laid back. We loved every minute.

My first time visiting, definitely will return with family & friends. Delicious taste...the staff is both knowledgeable and awesome, thank you Elena for the introduction of your fine spirits.

This was the best experience! We had a great time! The host was knowledgeable and friendly! I highly recommend that you put this on your "to do list"!

Phenomenal! I always looked at Vodka and Gin as vessels for whatever was being mixed with them. No longer! Not only can you do tastings...but...A tour of this micro-distillery and hand crafted unique cocktails being served. Great location within the Barlow District. Rebecca rocked the experience with her knowledge and personality. Genuine and absolutely superb...The whiskeys were top notch along with the floral old world gins and vodka. Great!

The spirits are very good. The straight wheat and straight rye whiskeys are very smooth and taste amazing. The service was just as helpful setting up the tasting reservation as it was when we got there. Would definitely recommend to anyone who likes their spirits

This is the second time I've been here. I have started to leave reviews only after second times because I have a better opinion. I absolutely love this place. Very cool place. It's a small tasting room but still very open. They offer flights, cocktails and bottles of their liquor for sale. Their cocktails are absolutely delicious. The staff are so nice and sweet and very informative. Will definitely be coming back in the near future.

I may have to start trading my Sonoma County wine desires for Sonoma County spirits! The owners Timo and Ashby have a little gem going with an obvious love of the craft and not taking shortcuts. Sampled the full range of vodka (very smooth and sippable), gin (interesting blend with freshly grated citrus zest) that I want to try in a mixed drink, barrel aged gin (I want more) that can be sipped like a fine, smooth Irish whiskey, their first releases of wheat and rye whiskies (preferred the wheat as a little smoother) and sloe gin (real sloe berries imported from Hungary) that could serve as a digestif or wonderful in many mixed drinks. Love that the production staff is all women and that they use California organic grain whenever they can and no GMO ever.

Jessica was tour guide. She told us about their history and talked about what we were going to taste. Emily was our very interesting tasting room manager. We started with the best tasting and smoothest vodka I have ever had. I have had Ketel One when they were in town and that was smooth, but I said tasty... nope. Vodka doesn't have a taste... That is why I like tequila, the taste, but this vodka has a taste and it is yummy. You will have to come in and experience it for yourself to know what I am talking about. It opened my eyes to vodka. Then we had a gin that wasn't overly juniper-ed (which I haven't been able to get over since I was about 18 (thanks Todd Sholley, lol). It had a lot of other spices and aromatics. I liked it. My husband is all about gin and had a nice smile on his face. Next was the barreled gin... I like whiskey and that caramelized flavor that comes from the burnt barrels. This was gin PLUS the barrel flavoring. YUM! Then we had sloe gin and sloe gin barreled. They were really nice versions of what we tried when we were too young to drink. When were sloe gin fizzes popular? I think my parents drank them. I enjoyed this as an aperitif, forget whatever was the fizz. Both were good but the barrel toastiness was over the top. Jessica took us on a tour of the distillery. Some of it is really pretty--with all the metal and copper. We met with Lauren, who shared a bit of knowledge, then we went to meet the whiskey barrels (coming in a couple years). They have a really cool thing going on back there, from a psychology background OR a west county background, lol. They have a bunch of barrels listening to music 24 hours per day. (I have seen what music can do to water so I don't feel all tree-hugger thinking that this is cool... See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFDYhG5rvqM or http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/water-crystal.html). They also have a control barrel (all sad and silent I'm sure...). What a great visit at Sprint Works; I would recommended it to anyone, even people who have bad gin memories from their youth.

Review of the Vodka only. I have not been to the distillery,. but would love to visit one day. This is a Hard Red Winter wheat based vodka. The wheat comes from California, so right down the road, so to speak. The Vodka was an addition to the spirit lines they were already making. Since many places start with making Vodka first, I found this interesting. They don't make flavored versions, or not that I have found anyway. So this is a straight up vodka, smooth enough to drink neat, which is great. Its a vodka to savor, the flavor is pretty rich actually, comes from the wheat base. As with so many of these small batch places, the price point is on the higher side, which makes it fine for a sipping vodka, but not so much a mixing one. A good gift for someone who loves vodka.

Every time I come in I'm always shocked that they remember I'm a club member. Unbelievable hospitality, friendly staff and great drinks. I definitely think this place is worth taking friends and family from out of the area. It takes the monotony out of the regular wine tasting experience.

Oh my, the booze made here is good! I drinks my share of cocktails. Mostly made at home with premium spirits. My gin of record has been Bombay sapphire or Tanqueray. But not anymore! My visit here was a mind opener and a tongue surpriser. Cut to the chase: The barrel gin which is aged like whisky is one of the best liquors I've ever tasted. Smooth, sprightly, complex without being over bearing. Johnny Walker blue label is rubbing alcohol compared to this gin. There's several more flavors and a vodka. I liked those as well. But when I go to Bottle Barn it's the barrel gin that will go in the bag.

Came here during a visit to Norcal. I found this deal on groupon and it was excellent! Sadly, I don't remember our tour guides name but she was great! She was very knowledgeable and funny. I learned a lot! Definitely come check this place out if you are in the area. I know I will be stopping by the next time I'm in Norcal.

Fantastic cocktails with a strong female crew. Couldn't ask for more. Tasting pours are small (0.5 oz) but the experience is worth it. Definitely dont leave without a cocktail, even if nothing on the menu speaks to you, they will make something special for ya.

Amanda was phenomenal! She guided us through their spirits and made us custom cocktails. Highly recommend!

If you're making a trip to Sebastopol, you cannot miss Spirit Works Distillery! Conscious spirits made with care and all organic ingredients. The only authentic sloe gin in North America. Incredibly tasty. Love the whiskey, too.

We came here today as part of an event and thoroughly enjoyed our tour and tasting. It was really interesting to learn about the production process and hear the owner talk. He's very friendly and has some great stories. The distillery is one of the few in the country that takes raw grain and produces and bottles the final product. My favorite spirit that we tasted today was the sloe gin. It's complex and balanced with several flavors coming through.

The facility is small and so is the team that runs it. But the flavors are bigger then life. The Vodka was so smooth. I am not usually a Gin fan but their Gin was floral and lovely. My favorite was the Sloe Gin of the Gins. The have the Sloe berries frozen and flown in from Bulgaria. It is a personal family recipe of the owner. The whiskey was delish. The whiskey was fantastic! Go for a tasting! It is totally worth the trip! Sundays at 4pm.

I've visited Spirit Works twice. The first time i did the standard tasting, and was impressed by everything they had. I never thought vodka had much room for differentiation, but theirs proved me wrong with its lovely vanilla character - while I'm not a vodka connoisseur, I'd never previously considered drinking it neat. This one, I would. As the base spirit for all of their gins, that portends good things for the heart of their product line. Indeed, the standard gin is bright and lively and itself serves as a great base for the delicious barrel and sloe gins. My second visit was during a Yelp event where I was happy to repeat the tasting of the vodka and gins, as well as to taste the just-released wheat and rye whiskeys. Both whiskeys impressed me; I'm a fan of Manhattans, and look forward to making one with Spirit Works rye and sloe gin. The second visit also included a great tour of the distillery. Beyond seeing the equipment and hearing a bit about the distilling process, we got to spend quite a bit of time with husband-and-wife team Ashby (the head distiller) and Timo, who are both fantastically genuine, nice and entertaining, and obviously love what they do. They're the sort of people I want to see succeed just because of who they are; based on the quality of the product they're putting out, I have little worry that their success will continue to grow.

Had a wonderful guided tour today by one of the owners and some of their employees. It was very delightful experience with a plethora of information obtained from what I thought was a fairly simple process, which turned out to be very scientific and overall more of an art than anything. After about an hour long tour, I embarked on a tasting of the entire lineup they offer, which I must say was an absolute blast! I enjoyed all of the spirits I tasted, but the vodka and sloe gin were the winners for me in my opinion. So after all was said and done, I was ready to fork over some cash for some quality spirits, only to find out that due to CA restrictions they can only sell to distributors which in return sell to grocery stores, bars, markets etc. Do not let this spoil anything, because any of the employees will point you in the direction of a local market about 2 minutes away where you can purchase their spirits. Make this a priority stop if in the area visiting the barlow.

I guess the first thing I should say is, what a strange thing to be able to walk into a place, taste their product, like it, and not be able to buy it on premise. It sort of goes against our grain (no pun intended). But, laws are laws. This spot is very cool--in the Barlow, funky little tasting room with a nice window into the distillery itself. Our host was fun and nice, and she had a quick wit and good sense of humor--a must when sipping little tastes of vodka. For a small fee you get to taste a little of their spirits: Vodka, Gin, and Sloe Gin (the real stuff, not the DeKuyper's stuff). They were all good--even the gin, which I told myself long ago I would never try again after a bad experience in college where I ended up having a conversation with a wall. They were all very good. If you end up liking some of the stuff, there are plenty of places to buy in Sonoma County--there is a bottle of Sloe Gin on our shelf right now. Next time you're at the Barlow, go check them out--check the hours first, they aren't open every day.

Very hip and clean with views into the fermenting creation area. Great whiskey, the Rye was very tasty. Don't usually like gin but their Sloe Gin was sweet and delicious without the overpowering juniper taste

Phenomenal spirits are made here. We did the tour and a tasting. Our guide, Amanda, was extremely knowledgable and did a great job of illustrating the care and time that goes into every single batch. We were especially impressed by the musical barrels. We are waiting for the Led Zeppelin one! The spirits themselves were astounding. I personally enjoyed the vodka and my husband was especially fond of the rye whiskey. The barrel reserve sloe gin though was what we took home. WOW. Truly spectacular. It was the highlight of our trip up to Sebastopol.

Took my husband here for a distillery tour and tasting. It was $20 per person. We came on Superbowl Sunday at 5 pm which was the last scheduled tour of the day. It was just us 2! The host, Amanda, was very informative about the distillery process. My husband who is a growing whiskey enthusiast enjoyed the tour, esp being able to taste the different products along the way. Of course, we couldn't leave without purchasing the barrel reserve sloe gin and the barrel reserve straight rye whsikey.

Very unique tasting room in the Barlow, in Sebastopol. Offering some of the best distilled liquor around. Talk about hands on and handmade - this is "grain to glass"! Also, the business is basically run by some very smart women, who gave us a tour of how it's done. Very interesting to watch. I am not really a hard liquor drinker, nor do I normally belly up to a bar for a cocktail. I am a wine gal. But even I could tell after the tasting that this is a first rate operation. You cannot buy the product here on site - too many ABC rules. However you will find the product at your best markets and restaurants around.

My wife and I took the tour and tasting tonight. Riley was our guide and he was incredible. He was funny, knowledgeable and engaging. Add to that some excellent gin, whiskey and sloe Gin and it made for an excellent time.

This place was too cool! Great spirits and great tour! The Sol Gin was amazing. The pricing was a little high, but I will be back for a couple bottles. Check this place out if you are in the area; you won't be disappointed.

Let me start by saying, so very sad they are unable to open. What made up for the disappointment was the phone call i had with the woman, Kayla, that answered the phone. I believe she is the manager of the tasting room and boy oh boy is she knowledgable. My husband and I are taking an overnight trip to Sebastopol since we have never been and she gave us all the information on where to stay, where to go, and what to eat and drink. I accidentally kept her on the phone for about 20 minutes because she was such a pleasure. So genuine and sweet. Will be stopping by while we're there anyways just to say hello to her and buy the sloe gin she recommended.