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 