Review: Barr Hill Vodka
Barr Hill Vodka was introduced in 2012. Todd Hardie, Caledonia Spirits Founder spent over 40 years as a beekeeper before deciding to craft spirits from his raw organic Vermont honey. The Caledonia Spirits Distillery is located on the banks of the Lamoille River in Hardwick Vermont. In late summer each year the distillery takes delivery of hundreds of barrels of pure raw honey. It takes 4-5 pounds of raw honey to craft one bottle of vodka. The honey is cold fermented for over 3 weeks and small batch distilled, first in a pot still and then in a custom column still. Their recipe depends on two simple principles, they never heat the honey prior to distillation, and they never distill more than twice. Read more 
Review: Blood Sweat and Tears Vodka
Blood Sweat and Tears vodka was recently released. The name represents origin, blood; work ethic, sweat; and the struggle of all triumphs and tribulations, tears. Brand creator Umberto Luchini, is a former Campari America Marketing VP who previously worked on Espolon Tequila. Blood Sweat and Tears Vodka is triple distilled in Eugene Oregon by Ben Green from locally grown Pacific Northwest winter wheat and pure Cascade water. They mash, ferment, distill, freeze filter, and hand bottle everything out of a repurposed old laundromat. The matte black glass bottle features artwork depicting Oregon landmarks including Benson Footbridge and Lost Lake. Benson Footbridge traverses Multnomah Creek between the cascades of Multnomah Falls. Lost Lake is a lake in Sisters Oregon that disappears down a hole every spring. Read more
Review: Sobieski Cytron Vodka
Sobieski Cytron Vodka was released in the US in 2009. Sobieski is the number one selling vodka in Poland. The brand is named for King Jan III Sobieski. At one time Sobieski produced eleven flavored vodka’s for the US market. They now have four, including Orange, Vanilla, and Raspberry. Each flavored vodka is crafted with Dankowski rye and crystalline water from Oligocene springs. The vodka is distilled in a continuous column still. Natural flavors are then infused before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: Stoli Crushed Strawberry Vodka
Stoli Crushed Strawberry Vodka was just released. It joins the previously released Stoli Crushed Mango, Ruby Red Grapefruit, and Pineapple Vodka. If you have been a regular visitor of Best Tasting Spirits, or just someone who often visits their local liquor store, you will have noticed real juice flavor, has replaced natural flavor, as the go to ingredient in flavored vodka. A color that matches the flavor also appears to increase sales. Each Stoli Crushed variety starts with a vodka base made from a blend of 88 percent corn and 12 percent buckwheat harvested from the fertile farm fields of the Tambov region of Russia. The spirit is triple distilled and filtered four times. Pure natural spring water from an artesian well in Riva Latvia is blended with the vodka to reduce to proof. Real fruit juice, natural flavors, and certified colors are blended before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: High West 7000 Vodka
High West 7000 Vodka is produced at the High West Distillery in Park City Utah. The distillery was founded in 2006 by husband and wife team David and Jane Perkins. The High West Distillery is best known for their many award winning whiskies. 7000 refers to the elevation of the distillery in feet. High West 7000 starts with an eau de vie made from 85% oats and 15% barley malt. It is small batch distilled in a 250 gallon manually operated copper pot still. Free range snow melt water naturally filtered in deep rock aquifers, and sourced neutral spirit made from wheat and corn are blended with the eau de vie. The spirit is not chill or carbon filtered before bottling at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Two Brothers Citrus Vodka
Two Brothers Citrus Vodka was released March 2018. It is crafted in Aurora Illinois in a former roundhouse that was constructed in 1856 to serve Aurora on the Chicago and Aurora Railroad. Brothers Jim and Jason Ebel have been crafting Two Brothers Beer for 22 years. They now also distill an expanding line of craft spirits. Two Brothers Citrus Vodka is made from a 100% corn base. The spirit is distilled in a 300 gallon hybrid three column 20 plate still. The vodka only runs through the still once, but achieves the same amount of purification and distillation as 20 times through a standard one plate still. Four types of citrus zest are muddled and steeped for one week. The vodka is run through a loose filter to make sure they do not remove any color or flavor. Nothing else is added to the vodka for color or flavor. Read more
Review: Fire Oak Vodka
Fire Oak Vodka was released in 2016. The husband and wife team who opened the distillery in the Texas Hill Country also produce Fire Oak Texas Bourbon Whiskey. Fire Oak Vodka has been on my radar for quite sometime, as they have been collecting Gold Medals faster than Michael Phelps. Fire Oak is the official vodka of the Dallas Stars NHL hockey team. Fire Oak Vodka is small batch distilled five times in a custom copper still, from 100% non GMO corn. Read more
Review: Space City Vodka
Space City Vodka is crafted at Whitmeyer’s Distilling Co. in Houston Texas. I picked up a bottle on a recent trip to Houston. If you have ever been to Houston you know just how space proud Houstonian’s are. Their Major League baseball team is the Astros, and their NBA basketball team is the Rockets. The Space Center in Houston hosts more than one million visitors annually. Travis and Chris Whitmeyer founded the distillery with money raised from family and friends in 2012. This was the first legal distillery in Harris County since prohibition. They also produce several whiskeys, gin, and moonshine. Space City vodka is made from corn, distilled six times, and filtered through activated carbon. Read more
Review: Black Cow Vodka
Black Cow Vodka was launched in 2012. It was created by Jason Barber, a farmer running his own dairy farm with 250 cows. The Barber family has been making cheese and producing milk for over 200 years. Black Cow is made entirely from the milk of grass grazed cows. The milk is separated into curds and whey. The curds are used to produce cheese. The whey is used to craft the vodka. A proprietary yeast is used to ferment the whey. The spirit is distilled in a copper still made in Germany by A.G. Holstein. Doesn’t it seem appropriate that a Holstein still is use to produce a milk based vodka? After distillation the vodka is triple filtered. Read more
Review: Frankly Organic Grapefruit Vodka
Frankly Organic Grapefruit Vodka was launched June 2018 by Be in Good Spirits Co-Founders Philip Rock and Kent Croutcher. It is one of five organically produced vodkas they craft in Texas. The vodka base is made from organic corn sourced from family farms and is distilled five times and filtered twice. Frankly Organic Grapefruit Vodka appears to hit all of the latest vodka trends. No refined sugars, no gluten, no GMO’s, and no artificial colors, are added. It’s certified organic by Oregon Tilth, its made with real fruit juice, and organic fruit and vegetable juice is added for color. Frankly Organic Grapefruit Vodka even prints their entire ingredient list on the bottle. That list reads organic corn vodka, organic ruby red grapefruit, organic apple, organic lemon juice, organic Ceylon cinnamon, organic maca root, organic grade A maple syrup, and natural flavors. Read more