William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Wonderful spirits for sipping straight or mixed in cocktails. Today I'm shifting gears and sharing my thoughts on a new small-batch vodka and gin by Azzurre Spirits . Azzurre Spirits was founded in 2014 . Unlike many vodkas and gins, Azzurre vodka and gin are distilled not from corn or grains, but from apples, grapes and sugar cane. Both the Azzurre Gin and Vodka are gluten free and contain no added sugar. Azzurre Spirits has a partnership with Victoria Distillers, located in Sidney, B.C. Victoria Distillers is one of Canada's oldest craft, small-batch spirit companies. They use the highest quality pure Canadian water. Owner Danny Pettit, named Azzurre in homage to the deep, rich colors of the Mediterranean Sea ('azzurro' translate to 'blue' in Italian). Their bold, standout iris logo indicates that Azzurre has a difference that you can "see/sea." Danny partnered with his daughter Angela, to launch the brand in Las Vegas in 2014. Both the Vo...

Guest post by Juli Crompe. For someone who admittedly likes cocktails, PROOF was unexpectedly a whole new world. While I like to think I know something about spirits (having studied them a bit in college for an elective course), PROOF was proof to me (haha!) that the world of spirits and distilleries is growing much faster and is much more innovative than just a few short years ago. I never cared much for gin, or dark spirits, and find most liquor by itself to be more of a nuisance than a pleasure, but PROOF changed that for me in a big way. I decided "When in Rome..." and chose not to limit myself at this event based on what I've previously enjoyed, and opened myself up to the possibility of new liqueurs, spirits and flavors.