Straight Vodka (750 ml)

Hangar 1 takes its name from the original distillery location at San Francisco's defunct Alameda Naval Air Station—a transgressive choice for a vodka house founded in 2001 by Jörg Rupf, a German distiller who rejected the neutral-spirit orthodoxy of industrial vodka production.

The spirit is distilled from California wine grapes and viognier brandy in a copper pot still, a technique borrowed from cognac production rather than the column stills standard in vodka manufacturing. This choice introduces subtle grain character and aromatic complexity that persist through the distillation process. The base material—wine grapes rather than grain or potato—creates a foundation with natural fruit esters that survive the high-proof reduction.

The result is bottled at 80 proof (40% ABV) without chill filtration, preserving trace congeners that define its sensory profile. Hangar 1 occupies a deliberate middle ground: cleaner than a flavored vodka, more textured than a neutral industrial spirit, and rooted in a specific terroir (California wine country) rather than placeless abstraction.

Drinking window: no age ceiling; vodka does not improve in bottle.