GSN Review: Our Vodka- Detroit & Los Angeles

After a successful introduction in Berlin, Our/Vodka opened micro distilleries in eleven cities across the US, Europe and Australia with local partners. Our/Detroit will open during the summer and 10 other cities will follow including New York, Amsterdam, London and Melbourne.

“Our/Vodka does not have much in common with other spirit brands. In every city, we partner with local entrepreneurs who love their city – and together, we open boutique distilleries with a grassroots approach, that represents the local community,” says Åsa Caap, founder of Our/Vodka and former Innovations Director at Pernod Ricard. The distillery in New York will double as a tasting room, shop and event space, while the Detroit distillery will partner with local organizations for events and communal forums.

Our/Vodka is made with the same recipe, but every distillery will use ingredients sourced as local as possible. Each city not only lends its name, but also a specific local character to the vodka. The local partners will market the vodka in their own fashion.“This is about building a unique business in each city. Our/Berlin is run by fashion people, Our/Detroit by three entrepreneurs and Our/New York by skate and bike aficionados. Of course they will end up differently, and that’s the beauty of it,” says Kalle Söderquist, Creative Director for Our/Vodka.

Our/Vodka comes in a small bottle with a crown cap. Its motto: “Keep it simple. It’s vodka.”

GSN has received two of these vodkas so far.  We will review the others as they become available to us.

Our Detroit (80 proof)
Visual: Clear.
Nose: Clean, crisp and bright with a nice balance of minerality and refined distillate.
Taste: Medium body and mouthfeel with a slight edge of sweetness.  You can taste the base note of corn, which is grown in Windsor, Canada. Upbeat, warm and appealing.
Finish: Short and poignant.  No off notes or lingering flavors.  Just a clean refreshing pop.
Overall: Beautifully distilled and rendered.  A vodka that has a lot of friendliness.
GSN Rating: A-

Our Los Angeles (80 proof)
Visual: Clear.
Nose: Dry, crisp and ethereal.  More minerality than the Our Detroit.  It smells like a European vodka.
Taste: Organic wheat base with vine fruit and some berry characteristics.  A hint of vanilla adds to a dessert-like quality.
Finish: Medium long with a bit of the vanilla character hanging on for a few minutes. You’re left with a “round” mouthfeel.
Overall: Very nice and chewy.  This makes for a fine sipping vodka on its own, but will also stand up in a cocktail with more aggressive components.
GSN Rating: A

For more information go to: Our Vodka

GSN Backbar Review: July 4-8, 2016

Brazil’s Yaguara Cachaça is debuting two new offerings in the U.S. market, Yaguara Branca, a white cachaça (40.5% abv), and Yaguara Ouro (42% abv), a barrel-aged expression. Yaguara Branca ($30 a 750-ml.) and Ouro ($44) join the existing Yaguara Organic Blended Cachaça ($32) in the portfolio, which is distributed by Union Beer/Blueprint Spirits in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Florida.

Domaine Select Wine & Spirits is launching Paul John Indian Single Malt Whisky in the U.S. Distilled in Goa, India, by John Distilleries Ltd., the Paul John brand is made from six-row barley grown in the Himalayan foothills. The Paul John whisky range includes Paul John Brilliance (retailing at $60 a 750-ml.), Edited ($65), Select Cask Classic ($95) and Select Cask Peated ($100).

Illinois-based FEW Spirits is introducing Brainville Rye Whiskey this October in collaboration with rock band The Flaming Lips. Brainville Rye is made from a combination of rye, corn and malted barley grown within 150 miles of the FEW distillery, and aged in new, charred American oak barrels custom-made in Minnesota. Featuring a psychedelic label created by designer Justin Helton, Brainville is 80-proof and will retail at $125 a 750-ml. bottle. It will debut across key FEW markets this fall in a limited edition of 5,000 bottles.

Arizona-based Hamilton Distillers is launching single malt whiskey range Whiskey Del Bac across a number of markets, partnering with Atlanta sales and consulting group Crafted Brands on the rollout. Produced from 100% two-row barley sourced primarily from Arizona’s BKW Farms and southwestern Colorado, Whiskey Del Bac is set to debut in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Texas and Florida.

Pernod Ricard has opened the latest distillery in its Our/Vodka program with its launch of Our/Los Angeles. Established in collaboration with creative agency founders Steven Ocheltree and Tyler Simmons, the Our/Los Angeles micro-distillery is based in downtown L.A.’s Arts District and will produce a vodka made with locally-sourced ingredients, retailing at $20 a 375-ml. The distillery marks the sixth outpost in Pernod’s Our/Vodka program, through which the company partners with entrepreneurs in different cities around the world to produce locally-inspired vodkas.

All information courtesy of Shanken News Daily

GSN Backbar Review: Mar. 31- April 4, 2014

Pernod Ricard-owned Absolut vodka is introducing a new vodka series in partnership with local     entrepreneurs around the globe. The Our/Vodka initiative, which began last year in Berlin, will now spread to 11 cities across the U.S., Europe and Australia. In each city, Absolut has linked with local partners to open micro-distilleries that will produce vodka with a focus on local ingredients, although each will have the same recipe and be packaged in a small bottle with a crown cap. Absolut’s partners will have responsibility for running the individual businesses and marketing the new offerings. An Our/Vodka distillery in Detroit is set to open in June, with projects in Seattle (opening in September), New York (November), Amsterdam, Los Angeles and London to follow later in the year. Our/Austin, Our/Miami, Our/Nashville, Our/New Orleans and Our/Melbourne vodkas are scheduled to begin production in 2015.

Buffalo Trace Distillery has launched a limited release single barrel Bourbon in honor of the distillery’s early master distiller. Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon will be available in limited quantities for suggest retail price of $34.99. Elmer T. Lee, who passed away last year at the age of 93, worked at the distillery from 1949 to 1985 and is credited with creating the world’s first single barrel Bourbon in 1984, according to the company. The 46.5%-abv Bourbon will hit retail shelves in April.

Four craft distilleries from the Midwest have collaborated on a limited release offering, Four Kings Bourbon Whiskey, to be sold exclusively at Binny’s Beverage Depot’s 30 stores across Illinois. Corsair Distillery in Nashville, Tennessee; Few Spirits in Evanston, Illinois; Journeyman Distilling in Three Oaks, Michigan and Mississippi River Distilling Company in Le Claire, Iowa each contributed 30 gallons of whiskey from their own distilleries for the project. About 600 bottles will be produced and will debut at the Whiskey Week Chicago 2014 event April 20-26. The whiskey is comprised of four grains from the distilleries’ different mash bills: corn, wheat, rye and barley. Plans are in the works for another blend in time for Whiskey Week 2015.

Washington state craft distiller Dry Fly is prepping the launch of a new five-year-old Irish-style whiskey under the O’Danaher brand. That limited-release offering will retail at around $65 a 750-ml. Dry Fly’s line also includes a vodka, gin, Washington wheat whiskey, Washington Bourbon and Triticale whiskey.

All information courtesy of Shanken News Daily.