River Pilot Vodka

River Pilot Vodka

At Mississippi River Distilling Company, brothers Ryan and Garrett Burchett take a grains to glass approach to distilling. They purchase the corn used in their signature River Pilot Vodka from farmers located within three miles of their distillery in LeClaire, Iowa, and then they clean, mill and cook the grain into their own mash. The brothers then distill the vodka in a German-made still they nicknamed Rose, carbon-filter it, and then distill it again. Finally, they number and bottle each bottle of River Pilot Vodka by hand. The result is an exceptionally smooth vodka with a slight kiss of sweetness from the corn. The Burchett brothers' passion and dedication to the craft of artisan distilling is paying off. River Pilot Vodka earned the gold medal at the Beverage Tasting Institute's' 2011 International Review of Spirits, as well as the bronze medal at the 2011 New York International Spirits Competition. "We have a beautifully unique product in our River Pilot Vodka." said Garrett as he admired the image of Philip Suiter on the bottle, LeClarie's first licensed river pilot. "We know there are a lot of vodkas out there. But to drink something that is handmade, high quality and completely local is something totally different."