An excellent local vodka at a great price. While a bit light for my personal taste, we recommend it for quality,price and locally made from local ingredients (New York State).
Notes: Made in Upstate New York in Kings Ferry (north of Ithaca/Finger Lakes Region)1961 is a wheat vodka made from local winter wheat from a long, cool fermentation, distilled 5 times then bottled on site.
Appearance: Clear, almost quicksilver in appearance.On swirling it coats the glass with a thin but nicely oily layer which then recedes leaving a mixture of droplets and legs
First Impression: Citrus,vanilla, grain notes- nicely done as a good number of wheat vodka can end up with thin cutting, rubbing alcohol notes.This one has a spritely light body with none of those faults.
Taste: Light body with a pronounced citrus then vanilla then grain and slightly alkali and stone drying finish to it. While not as plush as some vodkas, it has a nicely light mouthfeel which is something to be said for if you like the style.
Drinks: Worked well in a number of vodka drinks with the citrus and vanilla notes adding to but not overpowering any of the cocktails. While we would prefer a little more body to our vodka for some of the more complicated or heavy drinks ( read Bloody Marys and such) it was a versatile vodka overall and played nice with the other ingredients of most cocktails we tried.
Bottle: Nicely done frosted bottle with a heavy decanter bottom to give it some heft and luxury feel. Silk screened label graphics are applied directly to the bottle and tastefully done,catches the eye without being overdone, somewhat in the style of the period they wish to portray.Closure/neck is a paper seal with “Crafted in New York”with their star graphic in light aquamarine on a black background.Composite cork ( better seal) topped with a ridged plastic top is enclosed by clear shrink wrap that was very easy to remove-especially compared to some in the past that needed anything from a knife to a scalpel to get through)
Final Thoughts: Excellent quality if not to my personal taste in a vodka. Well done vodka in a lighter style. Beats Grey Goose and cheaper too, along with being a local product made on site from local ingredients at a very attractive price.
Website: http://1961vodka.com/ Interesting design and layout (One we have not seen before which is saying something right there) not overly informative about the vodka itself. Definitely worth a look !
