Review: Crystal Head Vodka
Crystal Head vodka was developed by Dan Aykroyd and it was introduced September 2008. It is crafted with Peaches and Cream corn grown in Ontario Canada, and distilled four times in a column still, and then blended with pristine glacial water from Newfoundland Canada. It is then filtered seven times with three of those, through layers of Herkimer diamonds. Crystal Head contains no additives, no sugar, nothing to enhance or mask the taste. The Crystal Head bottle was designed by John Alexander and manufactured at Milan Italy based Bruni Glass. Read more
Review: Zyr Vodka
Zyr Vodka was introduced in the US in 2003. Zyr is crafted with winter wheat and rye grown in the rich black soil of Russia’s heartland, and pure spring water drawn from a 450 foot deep Artesian well in North West Russia near Finland. The water is filtered five time prior to blending with the fermented grains. It is distilled five times in a continuous still and then filtered an additional four times using carefully selected Birch tree charcoal. Read more
Review: Belvedere Vodka
Belvedere vodka was first produced in Poland in 1993, and was launched in the US in 1996. Belvedere is named after the historic Presidential Palace in Poland. Belvedere translates in Polish to, beautiful to see. It is crafted in Poland with Dankowski rye and pure water. The water is sourced from their own wells and it undergoes an 11 step purification process that includes reverse osmosis. The vodka is distilled four times and filtered twice, first through carbon and then a finer mechanical filtration process. Read more
Review: Hangar One Vodka
Hangar One vodka was introduced in 2002. It was crafted as a collaboration between Ansely Coale from Germain-Ronbin and Jorg Rupf from St. George Spirits. It is made with Midwestern wheat distilled in a custom built column still and Viognier grapes distilled in a copper pot still. Hangar One is named after the World War II era hangar at the old Alameda Navel Air Station where it was first created. Hangar One was acquired by Proximo in 2010 and it is now distilled in a building next door. Read more
Review: Leaf Alaskan Glacial Water Vodka
Leaf Alaskan Glacial Water vodka, is one of two vodka’s crafted at the Temperance Distillery in Temperance Michigan. Their other vodka is crafted with Rocky Mountain Mineral water. These two vodkas are both made from organic wheat that is distilled five times. The only difference between the two vodka’s is the water used. Their Alaskan vodka uses water that starts out as four glaciers that melt and wind their way down the mountain into Alaska’s Blue Lake. Read more
Review: American Harvest Organic Vodka
American Harvest Organic vodka was introduced in 2011 by the company behind Grey Goose Vodka, Sidney Frank. While Sidney Frank himself died in 2006, his company lives on. After selling Grey Goose to Bacardi in 2004 for $2.3 Billion and waiting out a non compete clause, they are back in the vodka business. It is crafted in small batches with organic wheat that is grown on a family owned farm in Idaho. A four column continuous distillation process is used. The spirit is blended with water from aquifers deep beneath the Snake River plain and a proprietary mixture of organic ingredients. A four step charcoal filtration process follows before it is hand bottled at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Pinnacle Vodka
Pinnacle vodka was launched in 2002 by The White Rock Distillery in Lewiston Maine. At the time White Rock also owned the Three Olives Vodka brand which they sold to Proximo for $605 million in November 2007. Once this sale was completed Pinnacle became their lead brand. Pinnacle was acquired by Beam April 2012 who itself was acquired by Suntory in 2014, forming Beam Suntory. Having created over 50 flavored vodka’s it may be easy to forget the fact that Pinnacle also creates an unflavored vodka. This vodka serves as the base for all of their flavored vodka’s. It is crafted in France with wheat grown in the Brie region of France and it is distilled five times and charcoal filtered. Pure French water is added before it is shipped to Frankfort Kentucky and bottled at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Ketel One Vodka
Ketel One Vodka was introduced in 1983. The Nolet family has been distilling vodka for ten generations at their distillery in Schiedam Holland. It is made with 100% GMO free European wheat. They start with a column distillation process with a portion redistilled in small batches in copper pot stills. During this process the heads and tails are discarded keeping only the heart of each distillate. Each batch is individually charcoal filtered. It is then blended with the column distilled vodka and water. The vodka then rests in tile lined tanks until it is ready. Read more
Review: Christiania Vodka
Christiania Vodka was introduced in 2000. It is named after King Christian IV, a Danish King who conquered Norway in 1596. King Christian’s Norwegian court perfected the original Christiania vodka. It is crafted at the 200 year old Arcus distillery in Norway and it is made with Trondelag potatoes and pure water from the Jostedals glacier, the worlds largest glacier. It is column still distilled six times, charcoal filtered, and then aerated to eliminate the last of the impurities for ultimate smoothness. Read more
Review: Gera Premium Vodka
Gera Premium Vodka is made in Lithuania with wheat and water that has been filtered through reverse osmosis. Gera has developed a eight step process they use to craft their vodka and they have named it Octal. This process includes saturating the vodka with oxygen and filtering three times through carbon filters at very low temperatures. Read more