Review: Vusa Vodka
Spearhead Spirits was founded in 2019 by Chris Frederick and Damola Timeyin with a mission to showcase spirits made in Africa using ingredients native to the continent. They partnered with Midlands Distillery and after 3 years of research and testing they launched Bayab Gin and Vusa Vodka. Today they also make 3 flavored vodka’s and 3 flavored gins. Mansas African Whisky and Sango African Agave are coming soon. Vusa Vodka is made from the finest South African cane grown in the heart of the Kwazula- Natal subtropical climate, sourced within a 50 mile radius of the distillery. Vusa is small batch triple distilled in a copper pot still, proofed with pure water from the Lion’s River in the hills of Kwazula-Natal, and filtered once through coconut shells. Read more 
Review: Aman Tequila Blanco
Aman Tequila was founded by Gerardo Madrigal, a former Mathematics Professor at East Los Angeles College. Gerardo’s parents immigrated to Los Angeles from Nayarit Mexico in 1972 and they worked packing meat and shrimp for 30 years. On a family trip back to Mexico at age 9 Gerardo fell in love with the soils of Nayarit and the millions of blue agave plants. After acquiring a 6.35 hectare plot of land in Nayarit he began planting agave in 2014. He later built the first distillery in Nayarit Mexico. Aman Tequila is made by Master Distiller Hector Davalos at Hacienda Capellania. Hector’s father was a Chemical Engineer who worked at Tequila El Viejito for 25 years, and later partnered with Maestro Alcaraz Master Distiller for Patron for 15 years. Aman Tequila Blanco is made from 100% agave grown at a 3933 elevation in Nayarit. The agave is cooked in autoclave ovens and open air fermented in stainless tanks. After a double distillation the spirit is proofed with alkaline spring water. Read more
Review: Tenjaku Japanese Vodka
Tenjaku Japanese Vodka was launched in Japan February 2023, and released in the US in 2024. No specific distillery is listed on the bottles label but an internet search of Tenjaku Vodka leads me to the tenjakuwhiskyusa.com website. Besides vodka, Tenjaku also produces several whisky’s, and gin. Tenjaku Japanese Vodka is distilled from short grain Yamada Nishiki rice, Koji malt, and crystal clear stream water sourced 250 meters below the Mt. Fuji basin. Once the spirit is distilled it is finished using a birch and bamboo charcoal filtration system. Read more
Review: El Gran Legado De Vita Tequila Blanco
After a 15 year career in strategic marketing in the entertainment industry Steve Vera went a different direction. First he acquiring land in the Michoacan Region to plant agave, an estate that now numbers 1 million agaves. He later partnered with Tequila Cascahuin to craft his own tequila. This distillery currently produces tequila for 17 brands including Cascahuin, Wild Common, Loco, Montagave, and Siembra Valles. El Gran Legado De Vita Tequila Blanco is made from 100% single estate tequilana weber blue agave grown on Steve’s own estate. The agave is cooked in masonry ovens for 3 days then cooled for 24 hours before the agave juice is extracted using 100% roller mills. The juice is fermented for four days in a stainless steel tank then double distilled. First in a steel alembic pot still then a copper alembic pot still. Before bottling the tequila is stabilized in stainless steel tanks for 15 to 30 days. Read more
Review: Friesia Vodka
Friesia Vodka is made from premium wheat and pure crystal water. The bottle states it is distilled at Brons Distillery in The Netherlands. I believe this to be a brand name for the Boomsma Distilleerderij in the Friesland Province, Leeuwarden Netherlands. Easy to see how they came up with the Friesia name. The distillery was opened in 1883 by Dirk Boomsma at the foot of the Oldehove Tower. Today the distillery is operated by the fifth generation of Boomsma family distillers. Across the pond Friesia is sold as Esbjaerg Vodka with the same bottle and label design. The original recipe for Friesia Vodka came from Denmark. It is distilled in a copper pot still and is charcoal filtered. Friesia Vodka was awarded a Double Gold Medal at The 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and it’s available at Total Wine & More locations at a value price. Read more
Review: Casa Loy Tequila Blanco
Don Manuel Loy was born in Ayotlan Jalisco Mexico in 1937. In 2019 he began construction of Tequilera de Los Altos Casa Loy. Construction was complete in 2021. Casa Loy Tequila Blanco, Reposado, and Anejo were launched August 2022. They recently added Casa Loy Tequila Cristalino. Casa Loy is one of 5 tequila brands produced at NOM: 1633. Casa Loy Tequila Blanco is made from 100% blue agave grown in Ayotlan Jalisco in the Highlands region. Once cooked and cooled the extracted juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks without fiber and double distilled in alembic stills before bottling additive free. Read more
Review: Zyr Vodka
Zyr Vodka is distilled by Master Distiller Chris Ober at Black Bend Distillery in Peoria IL. The Zyr Vodka story starts when Founder David Katz moved to Moscow after completing his degree in Russian studies at the University of Rochester, where he was the hockey teams starting goalie. After working in finance for five years in Russia, Dave visited over 40 distilleries around Russia with a plan to import a Russian vodka to the US. Instead he created his own brand. In 2003 Zyr was released for sale in the US. It 2015 we reviewed Zyr and found it to be one of our favorite Russian vodka’s. When Russia invaded Ukraine, David decided to make the move back to the US. The US distilled Zyr Vodka is made from the same wheat and rye base as the Russian made Zyr. Zyr Vodka is now crafted with organic wheat and rye grown on Janie’s Farm, and water sourced from the Sankaty aquifer in Central Illinois. It is distilled 6 times on a 5000 liter hybrid Kothe still and filtered 10 times through a series of charcoal and polished filters. While Peoria Illinois may seem a strange place to recreate a Russian made vodka, Peoria IL was once the capital of distilling. In 1920 prior to Prohibition more whiskey was distilled in Peoria than the entire state of Kentucky. Read more
Review: Lost Lore Tequila Blanco
Lost Lore Tequila was founded by Arturo Lamas. His great grandfather distilled agave spirits, (Mezcal) in Huitzila Zacatecas Mexico in the 1920’s. His grandfather and father followed in his footsteps distilling agave spirits themselves until the day his father moved the family to the US. Arturo became fascinated with this family tradition and his fascination soon became an obsession. He worked with Master Distiller Sergio Cruz and Sergio Vivanco at Feliciano Vivanco Y Asociados to craft his Lost Lore Tequila. The hand selected agave is grown in the Los Altos region of Jalisco. The trimmed agave is cooked in traditional stone/brick ovens. The extracted juice is fermented with Champaign and Rum yeast in open air stainless steel tanks while classical music plays. The spirit is twice distilled in copper pot stills. Read more
Review: Flying Dutchman Vodka
Flying Dutchman Spirits was founded by Brandon Thornton, Scott Kaldenberg and Jim Kaldenberg in 2017. Their 4400 square foot distillery and cocktail room is located in Eden Prairie Minnesota. All three have worked as private pilots and they are all of Dutch decent. They currently craft 9 spirits including gin, 2 100% Blue Agave Spirits, 2 Vodka’s, 2 rums, Creme de Cacao, and a Coffee Liqueur. Today we are reviewing their Flying Dutchman Vodka that was originally launched as Nas-Drov-Via Vodka. Flying Dutchman Vodka is made from a mash of Peruvian potatoes and Minnesota grown corn. It is distilled on a Hungarian made Hagyo still. Read more
Review: 4 Copas Tequila Blanco
4 Copas Tequila Blanco was the worlds first organic tequila when it was released in 1997. Hector Galindo Miranda founded 4 Copas and it was originally produced at the now closed NOM: 1457, CIA Tequilera la Quemada. It is now distilled at 1480 Tequila Las Americas. The 100% Weber blue agave is grown in Los Valles, in the heart of Amatitan Jalisco. The trimmed agave is cooked in an auto clave oven. Once extracted, the juice is fermented with organic natural yeast in open air stainless tanks without fibers and double distilled. Read more