Review: Square One Organic Vodka
Square One Organic Vodka was introduced in April 2006. It is one of five vodka’s created under the Square One label. The others include Cucumber, Botanical, Basil, and Bergamot. The entire Square One Vodka product line was selected as part of Oprah’s 2015 favorite things list. This female owned and operated company is lead by company CEO and founder Allison Evanow. Square One vodka is crafted with certified organic American Rye grown in North Dakota and pristine water sourced from a 200 foot deep aquifer in the Teton Mountain Range at the Distilled Resources Distillery in Rigby Idaho. A small batch single four column continuous distillation process is used followed by a single filtration through a micron paper filter. Read more
Review: Charbay Vodka
Charbay Vodka was introduced in 2002. Charbay was one of the early pioneers in the modern American Artisan distillery movement when they began distilling in California. Master distiller and company founder Miles Karakasevic is a 12th generation distiller. This is a true family craft distillery with Miles wife and co-owner Susan handling packaging and marketing, his son Marko is a 13th generation master distiller, and Marko’s wife Jenni is responsible for social media and distribution. Charbay also crafts whiskey, rum, brandy, and several flavored vodka’s, along with a tequila they craft in Mexico. All of the spirits are hand distilled using proprietary double and triple distillations with 7-10 fraction separation techniques. Their vodka is created with Midwest grown corn and rye that is distilled to 192 proof in a 660 gallon still using a proprietary process. Pure water that has been filtered to 3PPM purity is then blended to reduce to 80 proof. The vodka is then gently filtered without using charcoal, limestone, or filter-agents to preserve the spirits body and mouth feel. Read more
Review: Bong Vodka
Bong Vodka was introduced in 2005. Bong is made in Holland from pure grain and created from a 174 year old recipe. The vodka is distilled 6 times and charcoal filtered 4 times. Pure water filtered through reverse osmosis is added to reduce to 80 proof. The bong shaped bottles are produced in Milan Italy using crystal flint glass. Each bottle features the art of several up and coming artists. Read more
Review: Covington Gourmet Vodka
Covington Gourmet Vodka was introduced in 2012. It is crafted in small batches with locally grown Covington Sweet Potatoes. 20 pounds of sweet potatoes are needed to produce one bottle of their vodka. Covington is small batch distilled once at 190 degrees in a continuous column still that contains a pot still. Only the heart, 60% of each batch is bottled, with the heads and tails of each batch discarded. The spent mash is returned to the soil to enrich the next crop. The vodka is then filtered through fine mesh to retain its creaminess. Some interesting facts include, a sweet potato is not a potato, and in case you have been calling them yams, they are not yams either. The sweet potato is native to Central and South America, but 80% of the worlds sweet potatoes are grown in China. The US produces less than 1% of the worlds supply, with North Carolina being the state that produces the most. Read more
Review: Dry Fly Vodka
Dry Fly Vodka was introduced in 2007 along with their gin. They currently also craft several whiskeys and a bourbon. The Dry Fly Distillery is owned by Don Poffenroth and Kent Fleischmann two former marketing executives, and fishing buddies. Dry Fly was the first legal distillery in the state of Washington since prohibition. Dry Fly vodka is made with Washington soft winter wheat, grown within 20 miles of the distillery. Once milled the grain is cooked for 5 hours and fermented for 6 days before it is distilled in custom designed Christian Carl pot stills with multiple rectification columns. These stills were build in Goppingen Germany and they have a small batch capacity of 450 liters. The vodka is hand bottled and packaged at 80 proof at their distillery in Spokane Washington. Read more
Review: Deaths Door Vodka
Deaths Door Vodka is one of four spirits distilled in Middleton Wisconsin by the Deaths Door Spirits Company. The other three include a gin, white whiskey, and Wondermint, an artisan craft peppermint schnapps. The company is named for the passageway between Washington Island and The Door County Wisconsin Peninsula where many shipped perished throughout the years. Deaths Door vodka is crafted with a 60/40 mix of organic hard red winter wheat grown on Washington Island, and malted barley from Chilton Wisconsin. The vodka is double distilled in a 90 gallon copper pot still, hand cut, and bottled unfiltered. Read more
Review: Purity Vodka
Purity Vodka was introduced in the US in 2009. It is crafted by Master Distiller Thomas Kuuttanen at The Ellinge Castle Estate in Southern Sweden. His labor of love stated in 1998, and he spent 10 years perfecting Purity vodka. It is made with organic winter wheat and malted barley. The small batch distillation process begins in a hand made copper and gold pot still that is followed by 34 distillations in an 8-plate double column still. During the distillation 90% of the vodka is lost with only the heart of the heart remaining. This extremely slow distillation maintains the integrity of the grain while producing a spirit so pure, no filtration is needed. The 192 proof vodka is then blended with a mix of deionized water, mineral rich well water, and an organic column distilled wheat spirit, before bottling at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Aylesbury Duck Vodka
Aylesbury Duck Vodka was introduced by the 86 Co. along with their Cana Brava Rum, Fords Gin, and Tequila Cabeza in 2012. Rather than build a distillery of his own, Simon Ford has these spirits crafted at some of the worlds finest distilleries to his product specifications. Each spirit is filled in the same shaped bottle designed with the help of 100 bartenders. Aylesbury Duck Vodka is named for a duck native to England that has white plumage, a pink bill and orange legs and feet. The vodka is crafted with pristine Canadian glacial water and soft winter wheat sourced directly from local farmers in the Western Rockies of Canada. Aylesbury Duck is continuously distilled in three separate copper plated column stills that were built in the 1940’s. After distillation it is shipped at 96.5% ABV to the Domaine Charbay Distillery in California where they add exceptionally soft water from a well in Mendocino County to reduce the spirit to 80 proof. Read more
Review: Russian Standard Vodka
Russian Standard Vodka was introduced in 1998. It is made with winter wheat from the Russian Steppes and pure glacial water from Lake Lagoda. A proprietary distillation process which retains the character of the pure spirit and filters out impurities is controlled at all stages of production as the spirit passes through over 200 distillation stages. Russian Standard is then filtered four times through Russian Birch Charcoal. The vodka then rests for 48 hours in steel tanks where the liquid matures and the ingredients marry each other for perfect balance. Read more
Review: Hammer and Sickle Vodka
Hammer and Sickle Vodka, as the name would imply is a Russian vodka. The Hammer and Sickle symbol was created during the Russian Revolution. The Hammer represented the industrial laborers and the Sickle honored the peasant farmers. Hammer and Sickle Vodka is crafted with winter wheat grown in the black earth region of Southern Russia and soft water from remote country springs. It is distilled six times and filtered six times. Read more