For more than a decade, a stash of forgotten whiskey barrels sat quietly aging in Indiana and Wisconsin, waiting for the right people to notice what they had. Now that story is finally being told, and it's one worth pouring a glass over.
Dancing Goat Distillery, out of Cambridge, Wisconsin, has just rolled out its newest project called Stillman's Sonder. It's not just another whiskey launch. This one comes with two expressions — a 10-year Bourbon and a 10-year American Single Malt — and both are the result of three generations of one family's work in the spirits business, most of which happened far from the spotlight.
The Man Behind the Curtain
Every good whiskey story needs a starting point, and this one begins with a guy named Duane Maas. Back in the 1950s, Duane was working behind the scenes helping shape how modern whiskey gets made. He wasn't a household name, but he had his hands in some serious operations, including Seagram's and Chartreuse, helping push production methods and quality standards forward during a time when the industry was figuring a lot of that out.
Duane stuck with it for decades. Later in life, he even consulted on the early stages of what would become Dancing Goat Distillery before he passed away in 2016. He never got much public credit for his work, but people in the industry who knew what he contributed say his fingerprints are still all over the category today.
His son, Tom Maas, picked up where Duane left off, but took things in a different direction. Tom became a brand builder, helping heritage whiskey labels figure out how to grow and stay relevant, and he played a role in pushing small-batch bourbon into the mainstream. Tom had a knack for combining the technical side of whiskey-making with the art of telling a good story, and he made sure that whatever got said about a bottle was actually true to how it was made.
Now it's Nick Maas, Tom's son, carrying the family name into the still house. Nick is the one actually behind the still and the blending table these days, and Stillman's Sonder is his way of paying tribute to both his father and grandfather. Every bottle is meant to reflect the kind of care, patience, and curiosity that his family has built its reputation on for three generations now.
From Leftover Barrels to a Finished Product
Here's where the story gets interesting. Between 2010 and 2016, a distillery in Indiana called MGP was running a bunch of large-scale test batches. As is common with experimental runs, this left behind a number of barrels that never got used for anything in particular. Most people would have written those barrels off. The Maas family didn't.
Instead, they quietly bought up and held onto these orphaned barrels over the years, with the long game in mind of eventually releasing them once they'd aged past the 10-year mark. Tucked into those barrels were both American Single Malt whiskey and bourbon aged in Andean oak, which would eventually become the backbone of Stillman's Sonder.
Once the barrels were ready, Tom and Nick spent roughly 18 months going through an intensive process of tasting, blending, finishing, and fine-tuning to figure out which barrels were worth bottling. It wasn't a quick turnaround. The goal was to take barrels that had basically been sitting around unnoticed and turn them into something worth putting the family name on.
Breaking Down the Bourbon
Image credit: Dancing Goat
The Stillman's Sonder Straight Bourbon Whiskey spent its aging time in a combination of Andean and American oak barrels. That combination, along with several rounds of double-oaking, is what gives the bourbon its texture and concentration. During the process, the barrels were spoon proofed at certain points, and the whiskey was allowed some oxidation through short fills before everything was blended together ahead of bottling.
The finished bourbon comes in at 94 proof, or 47% ABV.
This isn't just a passion project with no outside recognition either. The bourbon picked up a Double Gold Medal and scored 98 points at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, one of the more respected competitions in the industry. It was also nominated for Best in Class in the 6- to 10-year-old Small Batch Bourbon category, which is a solid endorsement for a whiskey that started out as leftover test barrels nobody thought much of.
The American Single Malt Side of Things
Image credit: Dancing Goat
The second release in the lineup is the Stillman's Sonder American Single Malt. This one was distilled in Indiana, same as the bourbon, but it was aged in Wisconsin. What sets this one apart is the amount of work that went into it after the initial aging was done.
The whiskey went through three separate rounds of blending, re-barreling, and finishing, and it touched a pretty wide range of casks along the way — virgin oak, ex-bourbon barrels, Wisconsin brandy barrels, Cognac casks, and Calvados casks. That's a lot of different wood and spirit influence for one whiskey to pick up, and it's part of what makes this single malt stand out from a lot of what's currently on shelves.
It bottles at 96.4 proof, or 48.2% ABV.
What the Family Has to Say About It
Nick Brady Maas, who's now serving as the contemporary stillman and blender for the brand, talked about what this release means to him and his family.
"Stillman's Sonder is both a tribute and a celebration of everything made possible by the spirit makers of America's Heartland," Nick said. "Our work especially honors my late grandfather, Duane, whose rich and complex life in the world of spirits continues to inspire our every step. These expressions were also created for what he represented at the beginning – a Stillman. These two new whiskeys are an invitation to pause, connect, and reflect on the tapestry of our lives and the moments we share."
Why Call It Stillman's Sonder?
The name isn't random. "Stillman" is a nod to the old-school term for someone who runs a still, someone who's all about patience, process, and getting the details right. That's a direct callback to Duane, who was literally a stillman by trade.
"Sonder" is the second half of the name, and it refers to that realization that every single person you pass by is living a life just as full and complicated as your own. Put those two words together, and you get a name that's meant to represent both the craft side of whiskey-making and a bigger idea about connection and perspective.
Even the bottle design ties into the story. The labels feature a mid-century modern look, with abstract artwork depicting what the brand calls "Wiscy City" in Cambridge, Wisconsin. The design pulls from the architecture and culture of the Midwest, and it's meant to reflect the founder's appreciation for good design alongside good whiskey.
There's also a visual distinction built into the two bottles. The American Single Malt leans into daytime imagery, while the Bourbon leans into nighttime. Together, the two are supposed to represent a balance between the natural world and the engineered one, which fits with the overall theme of craftsmanship running through the whole release.
Where to Get It and What It'll Cost
Both the Stillman's Sonder 10-year Bourbon and the 10-year American Single Malt are available now. You can order them straight from the brand's website, or find them at select retailers across the country. Each 750ml bottle runs $70.
For guys who like to go a step further, there are also limited single barrel selections available for both expressions, for anyone looking for something a little more exclusive.
Anyone wanting more details can check out stillmanssonder.com or follow the brand on Instagram. The brand is represented by Small Victories Imports, a boutique firm that focuses on developing and distributing up-and-coming beverage brands.
The Bigger Picture at Dancing Goat Distillery
Stillman's Sonder is the latest release from Dancing Goat Distillery, but it's far from the only thing they've got going. The distillery, based in Cambridge, Wisconsin, actually started out pretty informally, as a gathering of friends and family built around Tom Maas' whiskey collection. Tom wasn't just collecting bottles to collect them either — he saw spirits as something bigger, a way to hold onto stories and memories and pass along a legacy.
These days, Dancing Goat's lineup has grown well beyond that original collection. Along with Stillman's Sonder, the distillery also produces Beren's Old Fashioned Brandy, Dancing Goat Presents, Death's Door Gin, Limousin Rye, Travis Hasse Pie Liqueurs, and various single barrel releases.
For a distillery that started as a family hobby, it's turned into a genuine player in the American spirits scene, and Stillman's Sonder looks like it's carrying that same family-first, craft-focused approach into its next chapter.
