Review: Down East Vodka
Down East Vodka is made from a unique strain of organic wheat grown on a fifth generation family farm in Paxton Illinois. The three Glazik Brothers, Dallas, Clayton, and Will have partnered with Stumpy Spirits Distillery in Columbia Illinois to craft their spirit. The brothers haul 2.5 tons of their own grown wheat to Stumpy’s and they process the grain into vodka. The process takes 3 weeks and when complete the brothers drive down and bottle the vodka and return with it to Paxton Illinois. The Down East name comes from the wheat fields being located east of their farmstead. Clay Glazik designed the bottle with a Silver Tree Logo, a tribute to their Irish heritage. Read more 
Review: Skaalvenn Vodka
Skaalvenn Vodka is one of four spirits hand crafted at the Skaalvenn Distillery in Brooklyn Park Minnesota. The others include Skaalvenn Rum, Habanero Rum, and Aquavit. They also bottle a bourbon but that is distilled in Indiana. Tyson and Mary Schnitker started distilling in 2015 and have grown the business significantly since opening. They now also operate a Japanese Cocktail Bar serving craft cocktails made from their craft spirits. The Skaalvenn name is actually a Norweigen greeting which translates to “Cheers friends” in English. Skaalvenn Vodka is made from locally grown wheat. When they started crafting their spirits they knew they wanted to make their vodka from wheat but they had trouble finding a source so they placed an add in Craigslist. Fourth Generation farmer Scott Lee responded and after touring his family owned Lee’s Seed Farm in Benson Minnesota they knew they had found their local source for wheat. After harvesting, the wheat is milled and delivered to the distillery where they mash and ferment the wheat and yeast for three days. The spirit is distilled in two different stills including a custom copper still. The vodka is carbon filtered before hand bottling. Read more
Review: Arbor Wheat Vodka
Arbor Wheat Vodka is crafted at Ann Arbor Distilling Company in Ann Arbor Michigan. At one time they also produced Walter Hill Vodka, a vodka distilled from corn. The Ann Arbor Distilling Company produces several Arbor Seasonal Gins, Fox River Bourbon, Rye, and Michigan Whiskey, Spaulding’s Peppermint Schnapps & Coffee Liqueur, Walter Hill Fruit Liqueurs and Absinthe. Rob Cleveland and Ari Sussman built the distillery in a former flour mill originally constructed in 1924. John Britton is now the Lead Distiller. Arbor Wheat is made from wheat grown on Wing Farms located five miles from the distillery. It is single distilled on a copper and stainless steel custom Carl still built in Germany. Arbor Wheat Vodka is bottled unfiltered. Read more
Review: Timber Creek Vodka
Timber Creek Vodka is crafted at Timber Creek Distillery in Crestview Florida. The Distillery was built on a 1400 acres farm near Destin Florida owned by Aaron Barnes family. Aaron partnered with neighbor Camden Ford in building the distillery, and creating the spirits. They currently also produce gin, rum, flavored rum, and several whiskey’s. Timber Creek Vodka is four times distilled in a custom pot still from 100% Florida grown red soft wheat and Florida limestone spring water pumped directly from the Florida aquifer. The wheat is cracked open and gently cooked to release the sugars. The grain is removed from the lauter tun and only the liquid is fermented. Timber Creek has developed a proprietary distilling and blending technique they call PureBlend. The spirit is filtered with natural charcoal. The vodka then rests for 6 months prior to bottling. Read more
Review: OYO Original American Character Vodka
OYO Original American Character Vodka is made from 100% Non GMO soft red winter wheat grown within an 80 mile radius of the Middle West Spirits Distillery in Columbus Ohio. It is small batch craft distilled once on a custom Kothe still and bottled unfiltered. The distillery was founded in 2008 by Brady Konya and Ryan Lang. In 2010 they released their first spirit, OYO Vodka. In 2018 they had a brand refresh with a new bottle, new name but the same formula. Middle West Spirits also makes OYO Honey Vanilla Bean, OYO Barrel Finished Honey Vanilla Bean, and OYO Stone Fruit Vodka, along with 2 Ryes, 2 Bourbons, 2 Wheat Whiskeys, and Vim & Petal Dry Gin. Read more
Review: Svedka Vodka
Svedka Vodka was launched in 1998 by Guillaume Cuvelier in Lidkoping Sweden. He sold Svedka to Constellation Brands in 2007. It is made from Swedish winter wheat. Four pounds of wheat is needed to produce one 750 ml bottle of Svedka. It is distilled five times in a continuous distillation process. Pure ice cold Swedish spring water is blended to reduce to proof. The spirit is run through high performance purification columns five separate times to remove impurities before bottling at 80 proof. At one time Svedka also produced a 100 proof vodka using the same process. Svedka currently makes 13 flavored vodka’s and they also introduced Svedka Spiked Seltzers a line of canned cocktails that surprisingly contain no vodka. They are made from a malt beverage base. Read more
Review: Cinco Vodka
Cinco Vodka was launched in 2010 by Richard Trey Azar III. It is made from 100% Idaho sourced amber wheat and water drawn from the Edwards aquifer which is naturally filtered through Cordova Creme limestone found beneath San Antonio Texas. It is small batch distilled five times in a 530 gallon hand hammered copper kettle still nicknamed Betty, and non charcoal filtered. I first tasted Cinco’s pool side at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort several years ago, and kicked myself for not bringing home a bottle to review. If you have stayed and dined at this Marriott property you will probably understand why I had no time to shop for liquor offsite. When produced Cinco was only available in Texas. I say when produced, because Cinco is no longer produced, it is still available throughout Texas. I picked up my bottle at Specs today. Richard Trey Azar III has since moved on to gin as he felt the vodka market was over saturated. He is now producing the award winning Seersucker Gin. While I’m still in Texas maybe I should pick up a bottle of Seersucker, since I’ve been told for several years, gin is what the cool kids are drinking now. 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: Gallant Vodka
Gallant Vodka recently arrived at Total Wine and More. With 193 stores in 23 states Total Wine and More is a significant force in the adult beverage market. While they stock all of the most popular brands they also have dozens of brands most shoppers may not have heard or seen before. Some of these brands come from small craft distillers and some come from large private label distilleries. Gallant Vodka is produced and bottled on the banks of the Charente by A De Fussigny. The distillery, A DE Fussigny, dates back to 1814. While this distillery is best know for crafting Cognac, they also distill vodka. One of these brands is Gallant, another is Summum Vodka. Gallant Vodka is made from French winter wheat, and pure Gensac spring water sourced from the Cognac region of France. After the spirit is distilled it is slow filtered for seven days to remove impurities. Read more
Review: Till American Wheat Vodka
Till
American Wheat Vodka was released for sale April 2016 in Kansas and Missouri. Since then several states have been added. As each month passes, they expand their footprint, with the goal someday soon of National distribution. Till American Wheat Vodka is produced by MGP, a leading supplier of premium distilled spirits who first opened their doors in 1941 as a small distillery in Atchison Kansas. In 2011 they acquired a second distillery in Lawrenceburg Indiana once owned by Seagram’s. Many of today’s best known spirits start as a grain neutral spirit distilled by MGP. Their Indiana distillery produces whiskey for about 130 brands. Till is made from red wheat grown in Kansas and distilled using a 75 year old proprietary process. Till American Wheat Vodka was MGP’s first attempt at creating their own brand. Since launching Till, MGP has introduced the Master Crafted line of whiskey. Read more