Review: Ketel One Botanical Peach and Orange Blossom
Ketel One Botanical Peach and Orange Blossom is one of three new Botanical vodka’s just released by Ketel One. The other varieties include Cucumber and Mint, and Grapefruit and Rose. Each variety starts with the Original Ketel One vodka which is made from 100% GMO Free European Wheat. The Ketel One base is redistilled with the Nolet Family’s botanical recipe in small batches through traditional copper pot stills. After distillation, the liquid is infused with the natural fruit essence specific to each variety. In this case Peach and Orange Blossoms. No artificial flavors, sugars or carbs are added before bottling at 60 proof. Each 1.5 oz. serving has 73 calories. This is 40% less than a 5 oz. glass of white wine. Read more 
Review: Heeet Hot Cinnamon Vodka
Heeet Hot Cinnamon Vodka was the first product made by MerryGo Spirits which was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Marc Goldberg. It is distilled and bottled by Citrus Distillers in Riviera Beach Florida. The vodka base is small batch distilled six times in 250 gallon batches and carbon filtered. Natural flavors are infused before bottling at 68 proof. Read more
Review: Belvedere Ginger Zest Vodka
Belvedere Ginger Zest Vodka is set for release in April. I was luck enough to pick up a bottle a little early. Belvedere Ginger Zest starts with a vodka base made from Dankowski rye and pure water. The water is sourced from their own wells and undergoes an 11 step purification process that includes reverse osmosis. The spirit is distilled four times and is filtered twice. Once through carbon followed by a finer mechanical filtration process. The flavors and aromas of fresh ginger, lemon, and grapefruit are extracted in a proprietary maceration process. These extracted oils are blended with the vodka. No sugar is added before bottling at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Stoli Cucumber Vodka
Stoli Cucumber Vodka will soon be arriving at local liquor stores nationwide. This is the first new flavored vodka Stoli has produced using their signature Stolichnaya vodka base since 2012. They did launch Stoli Crushed Pineapple and Stoli Crushed Ruby Red Grapefruit, two gluten free vodka’s made from corn and buckwheat that are flavored with natural fruit juice and bottled at 60 proof last year. Stoli Crushed Mango is coming soon. Stoli Cucumber is made from estate grown winter wheat, from fields in the Tambov region surrounding their distillery. The spirit is triple distilled. Pure artesian well water is blended to reduce to proof and the vodka is quadruple filtered through a series that includes quartz, Siberian Birch, and tightly woven cloth. While most flavored vodka’s are bottled at 70 proof, and some as low as 60 proof, Stoli Cucumber Vodka weighs in at 75 proof. Read more
Review: Skyy Infusions Sun Ripened Watermelon Vodka
Skyy Infusions Sun Ripened Watermelon Vodka will soon be released. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle a little early. This is not the first watermelon flavored vodka Skyy has produced. Three years ago Skyy Vodka released a 60 proof line of flavored vodka under the Skyy Barcraft product line. One of those three flavors was Watermelon Fresca. The Barcraft line is no longer produced. Sun Ripened Watermelon is the one of 15 flavors in the current Skyy Infusions line up. Watermelon continues to be a popular flavor ingredient for both beer and spirits. This will be my 13th Watermelon flavored vodka review. The vodka base is made from Midwestern grown wheat quadruple distilled in Pekin Illinois. Once in San Jose the spirit is triple filtered through California limestone and blended with water filtered through reverse osmosis. Natural watermelon flavors are infused before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: Two Founders 80 Acres Vodka
Two Founders 80 Acres Vodka was recently released. I found my bottle at Total Wine and More. Two Founders is one of several vodka varieties that are bottled in Princeton Minnesota that I only seem to find at Total Wine and More stores. Two Founders is made from corn grown in Iowa, presumable on an 80 acre farm. The spirit is distilled five times in Iowa before heading to Princeton Minnesota to be bottled at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Straw Boys Irish Vodka
Straw Boys Irish Vodka was launched in 2015. It is crafted at the Connacht Distillery that sits on the banks of the River Moy. The Connacht Whiskey Company is the result of a dream shared by four men, three Americans, and one Irishman, to bring pure pot still Irish whiskey back to the west of Ireland after a 100 year absence. While they wait for their own produced whiskey to mature they have sourced Irish whiskey distilled from a secondary source, and they craft a gin, poitin, and vodka. The Straw Boys name comes from an age old tradition in Ireland where a fun bunch of young men appear suddenly at a wedding to dance with the bride and groom. They depart as swiftly as they arrived. Their name comes from the straw hats used to hide their identity. Their appearance is said to bring good fortune. Straw Boys Irish Vodka is created using select wheat and is batch distilled in copper pot stills and hand bottled at the distillery. Read more
Review: Zodiac Vodka
Zodiac Vodka was relaunched in 2014 with distribution initially limited to Texas. Zodiac has since increased availability with an eye on National distribution. Zodiac Vodka was originally introduced in 1999 so if the name sounds familiar you may have tried it years ago. Zodiac is produced in Rigby Idaho in a true farm to bottle process by Distilled Resources. This is the same distillery that produces Square One, Blue Ice, American Harvest, and 44 North Vodka. Zodiac is made with certified Russet potatoes and pure water sourced from the Snake River aquifer. After fermenting the potatoes, a 91 stage distillation in a four column still follows. The vodka is filtered once through Canadian birch charcoal. Read more
Review: Square One Bergamot Vodka
Square One Bergamot Vodka was launched in 2009. It is one of five Square One Vodka varieties produced at Distilled Resources in Rigby Idaho. The others include Basil, Botanical, Cucumber, and their Original Organic. Square One is a female owned and operated company headed by company CEO and Founder Allison Evanow. A Bergamot is a citrus fruit that looks like a lime, and is believed to be a genetic hybrid of a lemon and Seville orange. They are grown primarily in Southern Italy and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Square One Bergamot is made from a vodka base of organic rye grown in North Dakota, and pristine water originating in the Teton Mountains of Wyoming. After a unique organic fermentation, the spirit is small batch four column continuous distilled and filtered once through a simple micro paper filter. The vodka base is layered with the citrus oils of pressed Mandarin, Navel, and Tangerine oranges and finished with the botanical essences of ginger, coriander, and juniper. The vodka is bottled at 80 proof unfiltered after the flavor infusion to . Read more
Review: Nemiroff Vodka
Nemiroff Vodka is distilled from soft winter wheat and filtered water from proprietary artesian wells. The spirit then goes through an 11 stage filtration process at their distillery in the Vinnytsia Region of Central Ukraine, known for its 1000 lakes and clear sparkling water. The history of the distillery dates back to 1872 when the Earl Gregory Stroganoff opened a small distillery in Nemyriv, the center of the country now known as Ukraine. It soon became the largest distillery in the region. In 1992 the distillery was reopened. While they continue to use the expertise and traditions of the past they have invented new technologies and products. In 1997 the unique recipe of Nemiroff Original was created. Read more