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One of Only 27 Vodkas to Medal

Indiana Vodka garnered another award last month winning a bronze medal at the prestigious Los Angelas International Wine & 

Spirits Competition.  Wines and Spirits from all over the world competed in this 70 year old annual competition.

The Judges awarded only 27 medals to vodkas/flavored vodkas.  Half of those medals went to various flavored vodkas.  This is only the second competition that we've entered.  To date, we have won one gold medal and one bronze.  We think that's quite a showing. 

Gold Medal Awarded to Indiana Vodka

Having produced Indiana Vodka for a little over a year now, we decided it was time to see if we could win a little bling.  With that in mind, last month we pulled a few bottles of Indiana Vodka off the bottling line and sent them to San Francisco for the prestigous World Spirits Competition.

Of course we think we make great vodka, but what would the experts say?  Well, they loved IV enough to award us a Gold Medal on our first try!  Now the experts agree, world class vodka is being made once again in Indiana.

The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the most influential and respected spirits competition in the world. The 2010 Competition was the biggest in its history. Thirty judges gathered in downtown San Francisco on March 13 and 14 to reward spirits excellence by evaluating 1024 different spirits from 57 countries. These judging panels were comprised of spirits experts from noted restaurants and hotels, well-known spirits journalists from major national media, spirits buyers for large purveyors, and spirits consultants. Judging was based on a blind, consensual procedure, ensuring competitive integrity as it remains the most recognized competition in the spirits industry.

After much delay, Prohibition Gin will be finished and ready to ship the week of March 14th.  The distillery, located on the northside of Indianapolis, is scheduled to bottle on March 15th.  Prohibition Gin is the second product release from Heartland Distillers. 

Heartland Distillers was founded in 2008 by Stuart Hobson.  At the time, it was the first newly licensed distillery to open in Indiana since the Prohibition Era.

Prohibition Gin harkens back to the Prohibition Era and especially the pre-Prohibition era when the cocktail was king.  It's recipe is based on a late 19th century recipe that Hobson discovered.

"I'm really happy with how the gin has turned out," said Distiller Stuart Hobson.  "It has a real bright herbal character that is very pleasing."

"It will still take a few weeks for bottles to filter out to the stores and restaurants, but our customers should start to see it in the stores soon,"

Indiana Vodka is heading to Miami for Superbowl XLIV.  We will be at the Cafe Iguana Pines in Pembroke Pines, just a short drive from Sun Life Stadium.  The Blue Crew will be heading south and will be there.  If you are going to the game, join us for two great parties on Saturday night and gameday.

Heartland Distillers announces that it will release Prohibition Gin in March of 2010.  According to owner and distiller Stuart Hobson, "We have made our first batch and are just waiting for our labels to be shipped.  Our first label didn't work well on the bottle, so we had to have the entire lable re-designed and reprinted."

Heartland Distillers, a dedicated artisan distiller of handcrafted spirits, partnered with celebrated chef Neal Brown to create this year's signature cocktail for the Heartland Film Festival. Indiana Vodka, one of Heartland Distillers' premier spirits, was used in the Basil and Lime Rickey. The recipe calls for Indiana products such as locally grown basil.

The Indiana Vodka Basil and Lime Rickey will be served at the Crystal Heart Awards Ceremony on October 17. Filmmakers, stars, and sponsors of the festival will be in attendance.

Indiana Vodka is handmade in small batches using only the finest ingredients from the Heartland.