Review: Bellewood Farms Honeycrisp Vodka
Bellewood Farms Honeycrisp Vodka is crafted at Bellewood Distilling the first farm to bottle distillery in the state of Washington. Bellewood Farms is the largest apple grower in Western Washington with over 62 acres and 25,000 trees. They harvest 1.7 million pounds of 100% chemical free apples each year. While the farm currently grows 22 varieties of apples, Bellewood Farms Honeycrisp Vodka is made from 100% Honeycrisp apples. Over 30 pounds of apples are needed to craft 1 bottle of Bellewood Farms Honeycrisp Vodka. The apples are pressed into a cider and fermented with a proprietary yeast. The leftover mash from the distillery is put back into the orchard as fertilizer. The spirit is triple distilled in a 24 foot tall 250 gallon column Vendome still custom built in Kentucky and bottled at 93 proof. Read more 
Review: General John Stark Vodka
General John Stark Vodka is distilled from apples, primarily Macintosh grown on Apple Hill Farm in Concord New Hampshire. The fresh apple juice arrives in 2200 gallon quantities. The juice is fermented for 7-10 days using two separate strains of yeast. The spirit is triple distilled on a 15 tray custom Christian Carl column still over the coarse of 24 hours. It then rests for a few weeks before it is cut to proof and bottled. General John Stark Vodka is named for the Revolutionary War soldier who during a speech uttered the phrase “Live Free or Die.” This phrase is still the New Hampshire state motto. The distillery sits on a former dairy farm that was switched to a vineyard in 1987 with the planting of the first grapes. By 1990 they were bottling wine. In 2004 the Flag Hill Distillery opened. Today they also produce whiskey, gin, rum, liqueurs, and brandy. Read more
Review: Clear Creek Vodka
Clear Creek Vodka is crafted from 14 different varietals of Non-GMO apples grown on Hood River and Yakima Valley orchards. The spirit is distilled using a 46 chamber column still and then cut to 80 proof with glacier fed spring water from Mt. Hood. The Clear Creek distillery was founded by Stephen McCarthy in Portland Oregon. His family has owned orchards in Oregon since the turn of the century. Stephen began creating award winning European style fruit brandies but sold the distillery to Hood River in 2014. In 2017 Clear Creek moved to a brand new distillery in Hood River Oregon. Two years later they launched Clear Creek Vodka. Read more
Review: Core Vodka
Core vodka is small batch crafted from apples grown, pressed, fermented, distilled, and bottled on the family farm. Golden Harvest Farms was established on a 45 acre plot by Dan and Madeline Zinke in 1957. Four generations later the family farm has expanded to 250 acres where they produce over a dozen apple varieties. Harvest Spirits Distillery was New York states 1st farm distillery. In 2007 they acquired a 400 liter custom Christian Carl still from Germany. The following year Core vodka was released. They currently craft gin, whiskey, brandy, applejack, and Blackberry Vodka. A single 750ml bottle of Core is crafted from over 60 pounds of apples. The pure apple cider is distilled three times. Core is crafted with no charcoal filtration, no sugar, and no additives. Read more
Review: Upstate Vodka
Upstate Vodka was just released. This is not the same 90 proof version of Upstate Vodka previously released. Upstate is farm to bottle craft distilled at Sauvage Distillery in Charlotteville New York, from 100% New York State grown apples, by Head Distiller Ken Wortz. 70-80 apples are needed to produce 1 bottle of Upstate Vodka. Once the juice is extracted from the apples it is fermented with Kosher Champagne yeast and twice distilled in 16 and 18 plate two-column stills. Only one state produces more apples than the state of New York, and with over 700 orchards in New York it should come as no surprise Upstate Vodka is made from apples instead of grain. Upstate Vodka is currently available at select New York and Connecticut liquor stores and it is available to purchase online and ship to 30 states from Sauvage. Each bottle is numbered and dated. My bottle is from batch 1, bottle number 7768. Read more
Review: Timberline Vodka
Timberline Vodka was released April 2021. It is made from a balance of grain, 14 different varieties of non GMO Pacific Northwest apples, and glacier fed spring water from Mt. Hood. Timberline is distilled with 46 levels of purification in a dual column 2000 liter pot still at Clear Creek Distillery in Hood River Oregon. Hood River Distillers acquired Clear Creek in 2014. While they are best known for their craft brandy, Clear Creek also produces McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Whiskey. Timberline Vodka is bottled at 80 proof with three different collectable canvas labels reflecting their commitment to the great outdoors. These labels feature a hiker, snow goose, and skier. Timberline is a proud partner of the freshwater trust, a non profit whose mission is to preserve and restore freshwater ecosystems in the western US. Hood River Distillers also makes Big Gin, and imports Batanga Tequila. Read more
Review: 1911 Premium Vodka
1911 Premium Vodka is a true tree to bottle vodka. Founded in 1911 by Andrew Beak and George Skiff, Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards is located in Lafayette New York. In 2001 they introduced their first alcohol product, a hard cider. In 2010 they released 1911 Vodka and 1911 Gin both distilled from their own farm grown apples. They currently produce brandy, whiskey, canned cocktails and several flavored vodkas including Vanilla Chai, Cold Brew Coffee, Rose, Tropical, Blueberry, and Honeycrisp. Their orchard surrounds the 1911 distillery and boosts over 350,000 apple trees. The hand picked apples are pressed and fermented into a hard cider. The cider is small batch triple distilled on a 19 plate copper column still. Read more
Review: Nightside Vodka
October 4 is National Vodka day so we thought it was reason enough to review Nightside Vodka. Nightside is distilled from Washington apples and cane sugar in Edgewood Washington, about 25 miles south of Seattle at the Nightside Distillery. Edgewood Washington was selected because their pure untreated water comes straight from the aquifer. With only 496 square feet of space, this is America’s smallest distillery, but that doesn’t stop them from distilling several flavored vodka’s, gin, bourbon, rye, aquavit, and a barrel aged vodka. Founder Tom Greene spent years working the graveyard shift as a longshoremen on the docks of Seattle Washington. This shift was referred to as the nightside, and it was the inspiration for the brands name. Tom feels nightside workers are a different breed. They get things done with pride, fun, and camaraderie. Tom founded the distillery in 2013 and it grew faster than anticipated so he took on seven owner operators to share responsibilities. The majority of the owner operators of the distillery have a service or military background including Police, Military, Fire, EMS, and 911. Read more
Review: Indigenous Fresh Pressed Apple Vodka
Indigenous Fresh Pressed Apple Vodka is made from 100% Hudson Valley apples grown on orchards less than five miles away from the distillery. About 80 apples are needed to produce 1, 750ml bottle of vodka. The apples are juiced into fresh apple cider, fermented, and triple distilled in a hybrid pot column still with 22 plates. The vodka is hand bottled, unfiltered. Initially called Heart of the Hudson Vodka when it was first released in 2005, it was the first vodka distilled from apples in the US and possibly the worlds first. The distillery was built by owners Ralph Erenzo and Brian Lee in 2003 in one of the granaries of the Tuthilltown Gristmill which was built by Selah Tuthill in 1788 and operated for over 200 years. The Tuthilltown Distillery also produces Hudson Whiskey, the first legal whiskey in the state of New York since Prohibition. They also craft Indigenous Empire State Wheat Vodka and more recently Indigenous Corn Vodka. Read more
Review: Azeo From Apples Vodka
Azeo From Apples Vodka is crafted at Azeo Distillery in Paso Robles California. Winemakers David Vondrasek and Ryan Horn began making vodka from fruit in 2015. Their first vodka was made from wine grapes sourced from California vineyards. Their second vodka was made from apples. The distillery currently also produces rum, brandy, moonshine, and spirit of agave. Eighteen pounds of apples are needed to produce one bottle of Azeo From Apples Vodka. Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Cripps Pink apples are pressed and fermented onsite creating a hard cider. The spirit is distilled in a steam jacketed 500 liter pot still with a 16 chamber column. Read more