Kansas’ own

This is a review of Most Wanted vodka from the US. I sampled it in the US in 2011. It’s clear, 40% alcohol, and I thought it was surprisingly good.

This one is called Most Wanted vodka, and it’s a brand from Kansas. I didn’t even know that Kansas had its own vodka distilleries until I found this bottle. But that’s life: we learn important things every day. Kansas has its own vodka: check.

the lore

Most Wanted vodka is produced by High Plains Distillery. Their website looks a bit rough around the edges, but maybe that’s all part of their marketing strategy:

There’s a whole story around the distillery being a family-run moonshine business before going legit in the mid-2000s:

They were saying something nice, though: they wanted to make a high-quality vodka at an affordable price. And sell it in the Midwest.

the brown paper bag

I wasn’t expecting much when I got this at a liquor store in Wichita. Paying only about 10€ for 700ml, I thought this this was going to be just another typical low-shelf product. The bottle didn’t look very sophisticated, and the brand seemed to be completely unknown anywhere outside of Kansas.

Wait, did I say liquor store? Yes. Apparently the law of the “land of the free” doesn’t allow for you to get your booze in a regular supermarket. You have to buy your alcohol in a licensed liquor store. And then you have to carry it out in a brown paper bag like some sort of contraband. Hilarious.

Most Wanted is solid

When I finally got home to my friends’ kitchen and we opened the bottle of Most Wanted vodka, we were surprised: the taste was completely smooth, only the aroma in the aftertaste seemed to be lacking a bit in originality.

Okay, only I was surprised. My friends were from Kansas and proud of it. They knew that their vodka was going to be good.

Not bad, not bad.