Review: Fugu Vodka
Fugu Vodka is crafted in San Diego California at Cutwater Spirits. Cutwater Spirits was built by the Founders of Ballast Point Brewing and was originally named Ballast Points Spirits. In 2015 Ballast Point Brewing was sold to Constellation Brands for $1 Billion. The executives used the money to expand the spirits product line and moved to a 50,000 square foot facility that includes bottling, canning lines for their canned cocktails line and a restaurant. In February 2019 Cutwater Spirits was acquired by Anheuser Busch. Fugu is named for the poisonous puffer fish also know as the Fugu fish. The Fugu is hundreds of times more poisonous than cyanide. Fugu fish is considered a delicacy in Japan where it is meticulously prepared so as not to poison their customers. It is with that same attention to detail that Fugu vodka is crafted. Fugu is made from the finest corn grains and is distilled six times and carbon filtered 15 times. The spirit then passes through a chamber of diamonds in a proprietary diamond blending vortex blending the vodka with water purified through reverse osmosis to reduce to 80 proof. Read more 
Review: ALOO Vodka
ALOO Vodka is one of three premium well spirits produced at OOLA Distillery. The others include ALOO Gin, and ALOO Chili Pepper Flavored Vodka. The OOLA Distillery was founded January 2010 in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Neighborhood by owner and Master Distiller Kirby Kallas-Lewis. ALOO Vodka is made from a multigrain distillate of wheat, corn, and barley. It is Lab Certified Gluten Free. As a grain distillery special measures are employed to ensure no post production contamination from sources including grain dust mix with the spirit. ALOO comes in a light weight one liter bottle designed specifically for a bartender serving cocktails. Read more
Review: Boot Hill Vodka
B
oot Hill Vodka is crafted in the former Dodge City Kansas Municipal building that was build in 1929, and once housed city hall, a municipal courtroom, jail, Fire Department, and Police Department. The Boot Hill Distillery is owned by Roger and Hayes Kelman and Chris Holovach. These farmers produce every single grain used to produce their spirits. They plant, harvest, mill, mash, ferment, distill, and bottle each spirit. They also produce Gin, White Whiskey, Red Eye Whiskey, Bourbon, and Bitters. Boot Hill Vodka is made from 100% wheat. The spirit is distilled in 500 gallon batches in a custom crafted pot still/column still. Read more
Review: Boardroom Fresh Citrus Vodka
We recently picked up a bottle of Boardroom Fresh Citrus Vodka for review. We had heard good things about the vodka and after sampling ourselves, we liked it so much we awarded a gold medal. Since then Boardroom Distillery has informed us they have updated their Citrus Vodka and it is now made from a 100% non GMO corn vodka base. The previous version was made from a vodka base made from wheat. The current Boardroom Fresh Citrus was released near the end of 2017. They were kind enough to send us a bottle and provide some additional details on how they craft their citrus vodka. The vodka base is distilled in a Hagyo custom built 530 gallon still. It is then infused with real lemon, lime, and orange. It is a combination of dried and fresh citrus zest. The dried citrus provides greater flavor, while the fresh is more aromatic. No artificial flavors, color, sugar, or preservatives are added before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: New Amsterdam Pink Whitney Vodka
N
ew Amsterdam Pink Whitney Vodka will be released in September. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle a little early. New Amsterdam Vodka has teamed with Barstool Sports to launch Pink Whitney Vodka. The pink lemonade flavored vodka was inspired by an original drink creation from Ryan Whitney, former NHL player and host of the Barstool Sports Podcast, “Spittin Chiclets”. New Amsterdam is the Official Vodka of the National Hockey League. The New Amsterdam brand was launched in 2011, and by 2017 sales had grown to 5.2 million cases annually and it was the third best selling vodka brand in the US. Pink Whitney starts with the Original New Amsterdam Vodka base made from the finest grains, distilled five times, and filtered three times. Lemonade flavors and certified colors are blended before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: Re:Find Vodka
Re:Find Vodka was launched March 2012 along with Re:Find Gin. The Re:Find Distillery currently also produces Cucumber Flavored Vodka, Barrel Aged Vodka, Limoncello, Kumquat Liqueur, Rye Whiskey, and Bourbon. The husband and wife team of Alex and Monica Villicana actually started making wine in 1993. By 1999 the 13 acre vineyard they personally planted in Paso Robles had matured enough to produce their own wine grapes marking their transition to an Estate Winery. The Re: Find Distillery was derived from the Villicana’s desire to be more sustainable in their winery. Winemakers bleed a percentage of free-run juice from red grapes before fermentation to concentrate and enhance the color, tannin, and quality of their red wine. This bleed is called saignee. Some winemakers use this saignee to produce Rose wine, others just discard it. Re:Find reclaims their own and in total approximately 60 acres of premium Paso Robles wine grapes each year through their distillery. Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache grapes from their own winery and other varieties including Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from their neighbors wineries provide the saignee base. The varietal doesn’t play a role in the flavor of the spirit. What really matters is that the wine grapes are ripe because it is the glycerol that creates the luxurious texture. The fermented saignee is triple distilled in a 250 gallon custom Carl Hybrid Column/Pot Still. Re:Find is bottled unfiltered onsite at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Door County Distillery Cherry Vodka
D
oor County Distillery Cherry Vodka is made in Carlsville Wisconsin. The distillery opened in 2011 as an off-shoot of Door Peninsula Winery. Bob and Noreen Pollman purchased the winery in 1986 and have since grown the winery to become the second largest winery in Wisconsin. The distillery also makes several brandy’s, gin, whiskey, and four vodka’s. DCD Cherry starts with a vodka base made from 97% grain and 3% grape. It is distilled with fresh fruit and local botanicals in a copper column still that’s specifically designed to lightly heat and capture cherry aromatics. Pure limestone infused waters from Door Peninsula are blended to reduce to proof. Read more
Review: Monkey in Paradise Vodka
Monkey in Paradise Vodka was launched in early 2016 by Alex Kowtun, Frank Gomez, and Seth Goldberg. The MIP name and bottle graphic design peaked my interest. After reading about their production methods, and seeing the many awards they have already won, including a Double Gold Medal from The San Francisco World Spirits Competition, I was psyched to try it. MIP is made from the highest grade American corn and is distilled seven times in copper stills, and seven times carbon filtered. The water is demineralized with a proprietary five ppm reverse osmosis system. This extreme level of purification takes 11 gallons of water to produce 1 “Paradise Pure” gallon for the distillation process. The charcoal filtration takes place at four different proof levels allowing the alcohol and water to rest together between proof levels. Read more
Review: Wild Roots Dark Sweet Cherry Vodka
Wild Roots Dark Sweet Cherry Vodka was introduced in 2016. It is one of eight real fruit infused vodka’s crafted in Sisters Oregon with over one pound of real fruit per bottle. The other flavors include raspberry, marionberry, huckleberry, peach, pear, apple and cinnamon, and cranberry. Wild Roots also produces two gins, and an unflavored vodka. Wild Roots Dark Sweet Cherry is distilled six times from corn and filtered 100 times through a lava rock filtration system. Pure Cascade Mountain spring water is blended with the spirit to reduce to proof. Over one pound of dark sweet cherries are infused. No added flavors, sugar, or color are added before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: Unbroken Vodka
U
nbroken Vodka is crafted at Stumpy’s Spirits in Columbia Illinois. Columbia is located near St. Louis Missouri. The distillery began operation in 2014. Husband and wife team Adam and Laura Stump opened for business July 2015, on ten acres of farm land they rent from Adam’s father and uncle. They run the 200 acre farm that has been in the family for 8 generations, dating back to when the family was deeded the 200 acre farm for $1. Adam and Laura also rent 50 acres of farm land to grow what is used in crafting their spirits. They currently produce a bourbon, several flavored whiskies, and several seasonal vodka varieties. Unbroken Vodka is made from 100% corn, grown on their land just outside the distillery. Pure fresh well water from a limestone aquifer is used to reduce to proof. They plant, harvest, mill, mash, ferment, and distill the corn from grain to glass. Only the heart of the heart makes the final cut. The spirit is then filtered through a custom blend of activated carbon before bottling at 80 proof. Read more