Hangar 1 Vodka is a

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

brand produced by The Hangar 1 Distillery in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda (island), Alam ...

. In addition to vodka, the distillery also produces

spirits Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

, some of which were formerly produced by St. George Spirits. The brand is owned and distributed by

Proximo Spirits Proximo Spirits, Inc., is an American Distilled beverage, spirits importer and international distributor based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is best known for importing and distributing Jose Cuervo, the world's largest-selling tequila brand.Nore ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.eau de vie An ''eau de vie'' ( French for spirit, §16, §17 literally " water of life") is a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation. The fruit flavor is typically very light. In English-speakin ...

distillery in 1982 by Jörg Rupf. Rupf grew up in Germany's

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

to a family of distillers. He went into law and became, at the time, Germany's youngest judge. On a visit to the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

in the late 1970s, he decided to stay and distill local fruit to produce eau de vie. In August 2001, Rupf met with fellow artisan distiller Ansley Coale, president of Craft Distillers and a collaborator in

Germain-Robin Germain-Robin, based in Ukiah, California, is a maker of brandy. History The distillery was founded in 1982 by Ansley J. Coale Jr., a local rancher, and Hubert Germain-Robin, a native of Cognac, France. Coale, a former Berkeley professor of ancien ...

brandy, to discuss producing flavored vodkas using a method similar to the production of eau de vie.Corby Kummer
"Flavorless No More,"
''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', December 1, 2004.

Eric Asimov Eric Asimov (born July 17, 1957) is an American wine critic and food critic for ''The New York Times''. Early life Asimov was born in Bethpage, New York, the son of Stanley Asimov, former vice-president for editorial administration at ''Newsd ...

"Rare Spirits Borne on Vodka's Back,"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', January 26, 2010. Hangar 1 Vodka was founded in 2001,Jessica Maggart
"Our intern takes a ride on the Hangar 1 Vodka blimp,"
''

Charleston City Paper This is a list of newspapers in South Carolina, United States. Current news publications The following is a list of current (print and web-based) news publications published in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Defunct 18th century Charlesto ...

'', June 17, 2011. with Rupf overseeing production and Coale handling design and marketing.Anne Brockhoff
"The boutique vodka made in a hangar,"
just-drinks.com, March 7, 2006.Elizabeth Browne

''

San Francisco Business Times American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

'', November 4, 2007. Operations were initially based in St. George's distillery in Hangar 1, a 2,000 square-foot World War II-era hangar at the old

Alameda Naval Air Station Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower wer ...

, before expanding to a 60,000 square-foot hangar in Alameda, California, in 2004. In April 2010, Hangar 1 Vodka was acquired by Proximo Spirits, who continued to produce the vodka in Alameda through St. George."News Briefs for July 6, 2011,"
''Shanken News Daily'', July 6, 2011. until the Summer of 2014. It is now produced in the building next to St George's distillery which it shares with Faction Brewery.

Description

Hangar 1 is a small batch vodka made from a blend of pot-distilled Viognier grapes and

column still A column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still is a variety of still consisting of two columns. Column stills can produce rectified spirit (95% ABV). Description The first column (called the analyzer) in a column s ...

-distilled American wheat. The flavored varieties are created by infusing the vodka base with fresh fruit, and then distilling the vodka in a

pot still A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as eff ...

. The fruits are obtained in-season from farms throughout the US."Hangar One Vodka is proud to announce its newest flavor, Maine Wild Blueberry,"
youngsmarket.com, September 14, 2011. The distillation process takes about four weeks per batch from start to finish. Hangar 1's flavored vodkas contain fruits including

Kaffir lime ''Citrus hystrix'', called the kaffir lime or makrut lime, (, ) is a citrus fruit native to tropical Southeast Asia. Its fruit and leaves are used in Southeast Asian cuisine, and its essential oil is used in perfumery. Its rind and crushed leav ...

and

Buddha's Hand citron ''Citrus medica'' var. ''sarcodactylis'', or the fingered citron, is an unusually-shaped citron variety whose fruit is segmented into finger-like sections, resembling those seen on representations of the Buddha. It is called Buddha's hand in m ...

, as well as experimental flavors such as

Chipotle A chipotle (, ; ), or ''chilpotle'', is a smoking (food), smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican cuisine, Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Tex-Mex cuisine, Tex-Mex and So ...

."Drink me: Hangar One Chipotle Vodka,"
Hedonia, May 27, 2007.

Varieties

Ratings

The Fraser River Raspberry flavor received a score of 96–100 from ''

Wine Enthusiast ''Wine Enthusiast'' magazine is an American wine magazine published by Wine Enthusiast Companies in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1979 by Adam and Sybil Strum, Wine Enthusiast Companies engages in the wine accessories, storage, information, educat ...

'' in 2005, while Mandarin Blossom received a score of 97 in 2010, the Straight variety was given a score of 93 one year later, and Maine Wild Blueberry a 92 the year after that.

Marketing

In May 2011, a 120-foot-long Hangar 1 Vodka

blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...

was introduced, touring the US to promote the vodka. It set off on a six-month tour in 2011, with stops in 30 different cities. In August 2011, during a thunderstorm, the blimp broke free of its moorings in Columbus, Ohio, and landed in a 94-year-old Ohio woman's backyard.Nick Greene
"Vodka Blimp Breaks Free of Moorings and Lands in Backyard,"
''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'', August 14, 2011. The blimp was repaired and continued its tour through California in 2012. It provided some of the coverage for California sporting events, including

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

games.

References

External links

* {{Vodkas American vodkas Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area Distilleries in California 2002 establishments in California Companies based in Alameda, California