It’s rare to hear spirit distillers speak of vintages, a term typically reserved for vintners. But this is indeed the niche that Kauffman Vodka has carved out for itself.
Russian businessman Mark Kaufman wanted to develop a brand of his country’s national spirit that would rank among the best in the world. He set out to create an exclusive, luxury brand of vodka that could stand on the same footing as some of the world’s finest wines, Cognacs and whiskys.
The result is Kauffman Vodka. Produced in one of Russia’s top distilleries, every step of this vodka’s production process is strictly controlled and only the highest standards are kept in mind. Kauffman Vodka is filtered through birch charcoal columns and quartz sand. Some bottles are distilled as many as 14 times for the purest flavor, while other Kauffman’s are distilled a mere eight times (note that some of the upper-end commercial vodkas boast between three and five distillation processes). The result of all this hard work is a soft, subtle and delicate drink with a faint scent of roasted bread crust and slight taste of mint.
What sets Kauffman Vodka apart, however, is the fact that it is the world’s first spirit produced only in vintage years. This bottle is produced only in years when the wheat crop is at its best and, even then, it’s created in tiny batches to ensure quality.
Kauffman Vodka has only been produced since 2000. Kauffman is known as one of the best brand names on the market. In 2004, this luxury vodka won two of three gold medals in the International Wine & Spirit Challenge.
VodkaKauffman.com
$150 per 750 ml bottle.