Unlike most spirits, vodka’s flavor comes totally from the fundamental ingredients, whether they’re potatoes, grains, or even kitschy fruits like apples or grapes. Finding the appropriate components and utilizing them in the right amounts is the challenge for the distiller and connoisseur. To that purpose,

we experimented with a variety of combinations before settling on a spelt and triticale blend. (Spelt is a wheat variety with a nutty sweetness.) Triticale is a centuries-old wheat-rye hybrid that provides a smooth creaminess.) The fact that we distill elegantly is also crucial to our technique.