The American Plains

A balanced, corn vodka from Minnesota; distilled five times with notes of toast adding complexity to a smooth finish. February 2016 / July 2017

Rating: 10/23 N: Slightly dirty water with a mild graininess leading into hints of plant matter and sweet licorice. P: I was worried that this would be harsher, but it isn't that bad. Oh, that harshness is building now. Unfortunate. This leaves a slightly oily feel on my tongue. There's a really nice sweetness going on that's bordering on caramel or maybe malt. Wow, I like the sweetness, but that harshness is intense. It has a hint of white pepper, but most of what I'm getting is burn. It's really unfortunate because this could have been so good otherwise. F: Lingering harsh burn with hints of oily malty caramel. - Conclusion - This was close to being good, but it missed the mark. I think I'm liking the premise of corn vodka, but this is too harsh. I'm inclined to give this a 10 because of how harsh it is, but it could be a 9. Probably not an 8.

Nose of grain alcohol and not much else. Pretty mild as a vodka might tend to be. The flavor was right it line. Not much to go crazy about but nothing to offend either. It’s very neutral and does it’s job. It’s not harsh or off putting at all.

Another one of Total Wine's cheap offerings that completely surprises me. This is marketed as a cheap mixer and by all indications I thought it would just be another Tito's clone. Made from corn grain in Minnesota I wasn't really expecting much except an extremely generic taste and maybe even more harshness than usual. But how wrong I was! The nose is actually pretty pleasant and inviting with strong fruity aromas. It smells mainly of creamy strawberries with traces of raspberry. As you would expect there's also a strong scent of corn but it's only somewhat dusty smelling and it complements the fruity fragrances quite well. I found myself loving the aroma and it made me want to keep on sipping this neat. Best of all the palate doesn't disappoint as it fulfills the fruity goodness of the nose. This is a very creamy and fruity vodka with a strong creamed strawberry flavor slowly giving way to raspberry pastries. A nice, sweet corn sweetness underpins the mid palate and rounds out the flavors nicely. Sadly this fruity and creamy quality doesn't last for too long. This is a short and brief vodka betraying that it's meant to be mixed rather than sipped. Towards the back palate you get some of the more traditional corn bitterness that seems to define most corn based vodkas. It's not too bad as corn sweetness also gains more definition but it is a bit sad that the creamyness of the front and mid palate abruptly end leaving you with a bitter harshness. There's also a noticeable alcohol burn to the proceedings in the finish that reminds you this is a cheap vodka. Despite it's flaws the cream, sweetness and fruitiness of the experience still make this a worthy budget vodka worthy of serious consideration. I'm giving this an extra .25 stars because it's a great value but it's base value would be 3.25.