Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Tito’s Handmade Vodka, a craft spirit produced in Austin, Texas has just been launched in Australia.

The vodka is made by Tito Beveridge (his real name) at Texas’ first and oldest legal distillery. The spirit is produced in small batches from 100% corn and distilled six times in pot stills.

Photography © by Gourmantic – Copyright: All rights reserved.

Visiting Sydney for the launch, John McDonnell, International Director of Tito’s Vodka introduced the brand as a vodka that founder Tito wanted to create that women could drink neat. Made from corn makes it naturally gluten free and the number of distillations gives it its characteristic smoothness which makes for very easy sipping.

The spirit exhibits moderate viscosity in the glass. On the nose, it is a little sweet and the absence of any nose burn is noticeable. Ultra smooth on the palate with a little heat on the finish, the corn imparts a natural sweetness to the spirit but not as much as expected. The smoothness of the spirit comes from the number of times it is distilled and using the hearts the distillation. Sipped neat, it doesn’t exhibit alcohol burn for its ABV of 40%.

Tito’s Vodka can be sipped neat, with ice or served chilled with a lemon twist. In a dry Martini with a little Dolin vermouth and a lemon twist, it is very easy to drink with minimal alcohol burn. The award-winning drink is Tito’s Vodka and tonic. The signature drink is Tito’s Mule, made with one shot of Tito’s Handmade Vodka with fresh lime, ginger beer into a chilled copper mug filled with ice and serve.

John McDonnell views the brand as a standalone and an original. “It’s totally different ton anything else in the category,” he said. The brand is popular in the United States, Canada and has just been launched in the majority of the Caribbean, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Shanghai. “It’s important to have Tito’s vodka in places where Americans visit. We want to them to be able to drink their favourite vodka”. The next focus is Central American then major international cities in Europe.

Tito’s Vodka launched at a special media tasting held at the premises of Southtrade International’s bar with Texas BBQ, ribs, corn bread and cocktails. The event was held on Friday 23 August 2014.

Tito’s Handmade Vodka is available at RRP $68 AUD.