Vodka
Vodka goes in and out of fashion, but not its popularity with drinkers. It remains the biggest-selling spirit in the U.S, and even the Scots drink more vodka than whisky. In the U.S., according to the Code of Federal Regulations, vodka is defined as “neutral spirits so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.” Nevertheless, there are subtle differences between vodka made from potatoes and from grain, for example, two of the most common base products for distilling into vodka. (In recent years, a wide variety of other bases have been used to make vodka.) Infused vodka has usually been infused with natural products (e.g. real lemons), while flavored vodka can mean it contains either natural or artificial flavorings. Rules regarding the acceptable strength of vodka differ slightly around the world. Within the European Union, vodkas can be bottled at as low as 75 proof, while in most countries outside the European Union, and in the U.S., vodka must be at least 80 proof.
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Ho ho ho! It’s the end of 2019 and that means your boozier friends and family are going to expect a little something liquid under the tree again. This is our 12th annual holiday gift guide, and as always we’re aiming to take some of the challenge out of finding the perfect wine or spirits gift.…
Mother Russia is home to Organika Vodka, a new brand of two vodka expressions made with water from Lake Baikal, best known to Jeopardy! fans as the largest freshwater lake in the world. Organika is distilled from “alpha grain,” the highest caliber of grain categorized by Russian regulators, and the expressions are alternately infused with two…
Hood River, Oregon-based Clear Creek Distillery is best known for its numerous brandies and liqueurs (and a lone single malt), and now it also makes vodka, the first addition to the company’s portfolio in nearly 10 years. Clear Creek Vodka is 100 percent distilled from apples grown in the Pacific Northwest. It is proofed with…
Shochu continues to make slow inroads into the U.S. market, and to further those aims, Iichiko, the leading barley shochu brand in Japan and the one which American drinkers are most likely to be familiar, has released a new expression: Saiten. The unusual concept is that Saiten was designed specifically with the U.S. palate in…
I’m not in love with the name “Tommyrotter,” but the proprietors of this Buffalo, NY-based craft operation remind us that the name refers to the Tommyrotters’ Club, “a band of rebellious artisans in the early 20th century who broke rank from the Arts and Crafts Movement to pursue their individual truths and create for creation’s…
Alberta, Canada-based Burwood focuses on using local ingredients and “old world craftsmanship” to make white spirits — vodka and gin, mainly — and a wide range of liqueurs which it continues to expand at a rate of one new release each quarter. Today we look at four of the core products from the company, two…
Bently Heritage is a new distillery in Nevada, admirably doing just about everything on site. The operation grows and harvests its own winter rye, wheat, oats, and barley, malts its grains in-house on its own malting floor — a practice you almost never hear about today — and uses its own Sierra Nevada-sourced well water…
Solod is a new vodka brand from the Ukraine, and it comes in two expressions, both built around (and arguably flavored with) malted barley. It’s really weird stuff (stay tuned) but, given the price point, something that might be quite appealing to cost-conscious shoppers. I don’t have a lot of data on exactly how these vodkas…
We originally encountered Infuse back in 2014 and 2015, when the company was just a producer of flavored vodkas, distinguished by its inclusion of copious amounts of solid botanicals like long lemon peels and dried peach slices placed directly in the bottle. Since then, just about everything about Infuse has changed. The company has a…
Diageo’s latest vodka is American Anthem, and with this spirit, the company says it will donate $1 for each bottle produced to support military personnel and families. The spirit is 5-times distilled but other production details are undisclosed, including any data about the base for the distillate. All told, this is a fairly modern vodka,…