Review: Two Brothers Vodka
Two Brothers Vodka is crafted by Jim and Jason Ebel, the same two brothers who have been leading the craft beer movement for over 20 years with their Two Brother’s craft beers. If you haven’t tried their beers, I highly recommend them. Two Brothers Vodka is one of several craft spirits produced in Aurora Illinois in a former roundhouse that was constructed in 1856 to serve Aurora on the Chicago Aurora Railroad. Two Brothers Vodka is made from a 100% corn base. The spirit is distilled in a 300 gallon hybrid three column 20 plate still. The vodka runs through the still once, but achieves the same amount of purification as 20 times through a standard one plate still. Two Brothers Vodka is filtered once through a louse filter prior to bottling at 80 proof. Read more 
Review: Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka
Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka is now made with NON-GMO corn. The previous bottling only specified Midwest grown grain, but it was also made from corn. Monsanto created the first commercially available corn with genetically engineered modifications in 1996. Some estimate over 80% of the corn grown in the US today has been genetically modified. If you have shopped for corn recently, you will see a premium charged for NON-GMO corn. Smirnoff is not passing that added expense to it’s customers. Smirnoff is the worlds best selling vodka, and the history dates back to the 1860’s when Piotr Smirnov opened his distillery in Moscow. He was the first to use a charcoal filtration system. Smirnoff No. 21 is distilled in the US, possibly Connecticut, and bottled in Plainfield Illinois. The spirit is triple distilled and ten times filtered. I’m interested in seeing not only how the new Smirnoff No. 21 tastes, but also how it compares with the previous version. So as not to influence my review I will sample and review the new Smirnoff NO.21 before I sample an unopened bottle of the previous Smirnoff No, 21 Vodka. Read more
Review: Koval Vodka
Koval Vodka is a true grain to bottle vodka made from 100% Non GMO Organic rye grown by contracted local farmers. The rye is milled onsite. The water is sourced from Lake Michigan using a natural charcoal purification method. Koval translates to blacksmith but also refers to new ventures, and to forge in new directions. The Koval Distillery was the first legal distillery in Chicago since Prohibition. It was established in 2008 by Robert and Sonat Birnecker. Koval Vodka is twice distilled in a custom built pot still handcrafted in Germany by Kothe Destillationstechnik. The final product is bottled on site. Read more
Review: Whiskey Acres Farm Crafted Vodka
Whiskey Acres Farm Crafted Vodka was released March 2016. The vodka was previously only sold onsite at their DeKalb Illinois Distillery. They also produce a corn whiskey, bourbon, and rye whiskey. This is a true seed to spirit distillery with all of the grain needed to craft their spirits coming from the 2000 acres they farm. The distillery is run by father and son farmers Jim and Jamie Walter, and their partner Nick Nagle. Imagine if Pablo Picasso had been limited to painting with only a two color palette. The results would have been very different. That is the same logic used in crafting this vodka. With dozens of corn varieties to experiment with, all grown according to their own strict standards, they were able to select the best corn variety to craft their vodka with. They looked for disease resistance, natural in-field dry-down, test weight, starch content, and flavor of the final product, as only some of the criteria in selecting this variety. If you thought I was going to mention the corn variety used to craft this vodka you would be wrong. This is one of the magic pixie dust secrets that makes Whiskey Acres Vodka taste truly unique and special. Most consumers think of corn as corn, and most corn vodka producers are at the mercy of using what ever corn their suppliers deliver. Whiskey Acres Vodka is distilled in a custom made 500 gallon Vendome still. After an initial stripping run on about 10 batches where the spirit is distilled to around 150-160 proof, enough spirit is available to put back in the still for a finishing run. The vodka is very slowly distilled again for 40-60 consecutive hours. The vodka is blended to proof with water from a naturally filtered limestone aquifer that sits below the distillery. After being continuously carbon filtered for 24-48 hours the vodka is hand bottled onsite by the ownership team and volunteers. Read more
Review: Ceres Vodka
Ceres Vodka is one of two spirits launched with the opening of Chicago Distilling Company January 2014. Chicago Distilling Company is a female owned family operated craft distillery led by the wife and husband team of Noelle and Jay DiPrizio, and Jay’s brother Vic. The inspiration for opening the distillery came in the form of moonshining ancestors in the backwoods of Wisconsin. Chicago Distilling Company is located in the Logan Park neighborhood of Chicago Illinois. Ceres Vodka is named for the Roman Goddess of Grain and it is made from 100% Illinois Yellow corn and double distilled. The distillery currently also crafts Finns Gin, Finns Barrel Aged Gin, Several Single Malt Whiskeys, Blind Tiger Rye, Blind Tiger Bourbon, and Lanfrays Trigger Absinthe. Our initial post of Ceres Vodka mysteriously disappeared but I was able to save our reviewing notes which we have reposted below. Since our initial post they have added 2 lines of canned cocktails including Club 88 Vodka Spritzers and a line of 10% craft cocktails using Ceres Vodka and Finns Gin. Read more
Review: CH Vodka
CH Vodka was introduced in August 2013 when Co-Founders Tremaine Atkinson and Mark Lucas opened the CH Distillery in the West Loop of Chicago Illinois. CH takes its name from the fundamental compounds in alcohol, carbon and hydrogen, while also tipping its hat to their Chicago home. Since opening, the distillery now also crafts 2 Gins, 2 Rums, several liqueurs, an aquavit, and a Peppercorn Vodka. This is the second pairing for Tremaine and Mark who also co-founded North Beach Brewing Company in San Francisco in 1989. That brewery closed one year later due to a lack of capital. After a successful second career, Tremaine became a partner at LSV Asset Management and Mark launching a courier company in Austin Texas that became the cities largest, the two decided to give it another go. This time distilling spirits instead of brewing beer. Their vodka is made from grain, winter wheat and rye, sourced from a farm 65 miles west of Chicago. The grain arrives in 2000 pound bags and so far CH has consumed over 260,000 pound crafting their vodka. The vodka is distilled in a two column still made in Germany by Carl Artisan Distilleries and Brewing Systems. Read more
Review: Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka
Smirnoff No. 21 vodka is not only the worlds best selling vodka, it is the worlds best selling spirit. Pyotr Smirnoff first opened his distillery in Moscow in 1864 and after this distillery was nationalized by the Tsar, the family escaped Russia and moved several times finally settling in the Ukraine. Today Smirnoff is produced in several locations world wide including the US, where it is made with Midwest grown grain and produced in Plainfield Illinois. The vodka is triple distilled and filtered ten times. Read more