Chicago Distilling Company And Two Restaurant Make Vodka For Whiskey Drinkers

• Julia Thiel
• Barrel-aged vodka, still in the barrel at Chicago Distilling Company

Barrel-aged gin is having a moment. Barrel-aged cocktails are everywhere. Barrel-aged vodka, however—not so much. And that alone was enough reason for Two mixologist Graham Crowe and Chicago Distilling Company owner Jay DiPrizio to want to make one. “I had never had a barrel-aged vodka before,” Crowe says. “That intrigued us. Like, why haven’t we had this?”

Vince DiPrizio unstoppered the barrel and pulled out a little of the vodka; in the glass it was the palest gold, so light that in small quantities it looked clear. Noelle noted that because the barrel had previously been used to age another spirit, it wouldn’t give the vodka as much flavor or color as if it were a new barrel (which it was when the whiskey went into it)—but because wood is porous, it would have absorbed some of the whiskey flavor and imparted it on the vodka.