The Vodka Wars

Can ethanol made from bulk producers like Archer, Daniels, Midland and sold to vodka entrepreneurs who add spring water and a fancy bottle compete with a single pot distilled vodka handmade by an artisan distiller? You bet they can. What about the brand owned Column stills that produce some of today's best selling vodkas, where do they fall in the quality scale of one to ten? Read on and learn about détente in the vodka wars.

Vodka is a phenomenal success story unprecedented in the spirits industry in the United States. From the day that John Martin bought an obscure little distillery in Bethel Connecticut just before the Second World War, the Bolshevik spirit, as it was described by detractors in the beginning has become the leading white spirit in America. There are over 100 domestic vodkas, if we include all the flavors, and over a 150 imported vodkas and there are more hitting the market every day.

How does one navigate this sea of product to discern the real, the best, and the ones to serve at the bar. Well let's begin by thinning the field, for now lets set aside the flavored vodkas. Flavored vodka is a big subject that has to be divided into the original eastern European and Russian traditional flavors like Siwucha and Zubrowka and the new marketing device to grab more of the spirits market that drives the modern flavored vodka market.

I want to talk about vodka; the clean, pure, (and flavorless odorless, if we believe the government standard) spirit that originated in Eastern Europe and Russia. Those first vodkas were pot distilled and therefore were purified by filtering to achieve the clean, pure flavor profile or they were flavored to overcome the primitive level of the distilling equipment. Then the development of the Coffey or continuous still changed the whole of the spirits world in the mid nineteenth century and the vodka category would prove to be the greatest beneficiary of that advance but not until the middle of the twentieth century. High proof almost pure spirit could be produced quickly and cheaply from grain and lowered to drinking proof with water. What and amazing break through…or was it? It depends on what you expect from vodka as a drinker.

So what is the deal here? How can spirits with such stringent requirements by legal definition, with only tiny amounts of citric acid and sugar allowed as additives and distilled at above 190 proof, almost pure alcohol, create such a controversy about flavor? Well the controversy is really not about flavor because most of the large vodka makers from the value brands to the premium and yes even the super premium brands add the same two things to their final product. What we are more accurately talking about is mouth feel. Words like smooth and silky are good descriptors and words like hot and biting denote a lessor product.

What I look for in vodka is the level of care that we see in any other well distilled product. The quality of the raw material and how it is stored and handled, in this case mostly grains but not exclusively. The professionalism on the distillery level to produce a product without off flavors or a hot unpleasant finish, and finally the quality of the water that is used to reduce the proof.

Just because a product is pot distilled in small batches will not by itself be reason to assume quality. And on the other hand because vodka is produced in a large distillery complex with millions of gallons coming off continuos stills per year should not condemn that vodka as a lessor brand. The level of careful attention in the three areas I described just above are the primary elements that produce good vodka not the equipment or the size. I spoke with Jorg Rupt the owner of small batch vodka called Hanger One, produced in Oakland California, about his odyssey as a vodka maker. Despite all Jorg's years as a distiller of premium eau de vie he had a struggle to produce the high quality vodka that Hanger One has become. He was also quick to note that the flavors they are developing go through many stages of trial and error on the way to the final product as well.

Remember also as an operator with an eye on the bottom line, use different vodkas to supply different customer needs. Screwdrivers and juicy mixed drinks are perfectly fine with good but moderately priced vodkas in the value range like Smirnoff and you can give the customer value for the dollar. Up-sell the guy who wants a straight up vodka martini to the premium and super premium level.

Don't just follow the hype, there is a lot of aggressive marketing in the vodka category. Set up regular blind tastings pitting the new guys product against some brands already on your shelf and do the tasting twice with a few people whose judgement you trust. True, the differences are often subtle and the decision is often made by available shelf space and customer demand. However of you find a product you really like be aggressive and hand sell it to your customers, they will appreciate a guide through this confusing landscape where the vodka wars rage.

These are some of the vodkas in different styles that I would be proud to have on my back bar.

AMERICAN SMALL BATCH OR ARTISAN DISTILLED

Hanger One, Oakland, Ca., Pot still wheat and viognier grapes

Charbay, Napa, Ca., mixed American grain, column distilled

Teton Glacier Idaho, potatoes, column still

Shaker, Minnesota, wheat, Column still

IMPORTED SMALL BATCH OR POT DISTILLED

Pearl, Canada, small batch from wheat

Potocki, Poland from rye

Ketel One, Holland, Pot distilled in small batches, wheat

Smirnoff Black. Russia, small batch pot distilled

Ciroc, French, grapes, pot distilled

AMERICAN LARGE PRODUCERS

Smirnoff Red, mixed grain

Skyy, Mixed grain

IMPORTED COLUMN DISTILLED

Stolicnaya Red, Russia, mixed grain

Stolichnaya Cristall, Russia, mixed grain

luksusowa, Poland, potatos

Turi, Estonia, rye

Absolut, Sweden, wheat

Belvedere, Poland, rye

Finlandia, Finland, Barley

Grey Goose, France, mixed grain, satred in pot still and finished in a column distilled

Vincent Van Gogh, Holland, wheat corn and barley.