Best Domestic Vodka





The Fifty Best held a “blind” tasting of 20 American-made unflavored craft vodkas with 14 members of our spirits judging panel. Strict tasting rules were applied. The order of service was established beforehand by lottery. The vodkas were poured into fresh glasses from new sealed bottles, and served at slightly above room temperature. Only ice water, neutral unflavored crackers and chips were available to cleanse the palate.



The judges wrote down their impressions of each product on score sheets. The scoring was done on a 5-point system, with 5 as the best. Double-Gold, Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded according to a set range of final point scores received from the judges. The tasting notes that follow are summaries of the judges’ opinions, with all replicated commentary eliminated. The states of origin are given, with a few tidbits added for each brand. All of these vodkas are 80 proof, unless otherwise indicated.

We all know about vodka's illustrious history in the Old World. What about American-made vodkas? Whenever a new distillery opens its doors, it’s vodka that they usually produce first, since vodka is made from simple ingredients and doesn’t require a complicated distillation process or barrel aging. There are now over 1,100 brands of unflavored American vodkas. Vodka is currently being produced by micro-distillers in practically every state in the country.



Much like craft brewers and vintners, the highly entrepreneurial master distillers proudly use local grains (or potatoes, corn, grapes, sugarcane, apples) and water to produce their small batch craft vodkas. These ingredients impart distinctive it character and flavors to the finished products. Terroir now plays a key role in these artisanal spirits, and the importance placed on the water sources and the soil from which the base ingredient is grown.



This local craft approach has proven successful. Because even though most of the domestic vodka brands are available only within their surrounding states, they usually sell out their entire production. And with many of the domestics becoming recognized by major distributors, vodka lovers can now purchase these artisanal spirits nationwide, with more and more becoming available at retailers outside the distillers' home states.



The biggest players remain the imports, but the larger imported vodka brands are the slowest growing, losing share to the many newer local hand-crafted American-made vodkas. And while most U.S. distilleries do not have the scale advantages of the large brands with distribution, small suppliers have proven their ability to gain share in their own immediate markets. Benefited by the craft cocktails boom, vodka sales in the U.S. increased by 15% in 2018.

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