The Ultimate Craftsmanship: Harlen Davis Wheatley 100 Century Vodka.
Whether you know the name Harlan Wheatley or not, he’s the guy distilling your Weller, Stagg, Handy, Blanton’s, and…yes…you’re Pappy Van Winkle. As Buffalo Trace’s master distillery, Harlan has quite a reputation among the Bourbon lovers who obsess over the industry’s rarest whiskies. Yet, when it comes to his namesake, Harlan Wheatley has saved that accolade for an entirely different spirit: vodka. It’s absolutely ironic that, while whiskey nerds obsess over Harlan’s whiskies, Harlan himself is obsessed with creating an entirely different spirit, with all the same dedication that he puts into his Bourbons. But we think it’s pretty cool, nonetheless. The new Harlan D. Wheatley Century vodka is the penultimate expression of his commitment to craftsmanship. A quick Google search will give you all the intricate details, but we’ll summarize them for you here: using a one-of-a-kind micro still, seven distillations, then blending batches that see another seven distillations, the final blend is then distilled three additional times for the ultimate purity. Overall, 100 separate distillations are occurring to create the HDW Century vodka, which sets a new standard for elegance, purity, and smoothness when it comes to a sipping spirit. For fans of Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon, this is your vodka equivalent.