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by Jox on 02 Sep 2025, 19:27
We’re proud to share that Hard Cut Vodka has recently been awarded Gold at The Spirits Business Vodka Masters 2025 in the Super Premium category and Gold at the San Diego Spirits Festival Competition. A cut above, and recognized worldwide.
by Jox on 21 Sep 2025, 18:47
by Jox on 01 Oct 2025, 11:39
by Jox on 17 Nov 2025, 22:25
Hard Cut
Though vodka's been around for centuries, its popularity is pretty recent. It wasn't until post-war America that it really came into its own. Unlike today, when drinking is as much about self-expression as it is a social ritual, 1950s Americana absolutely frowned upon obvious drinking, ergo ripe for a spirit whose defining trait was disappearing.
But Eisenhower's been gone for decades, the post-war ice has long melted, and the world's ready for martinis that talk back. Unfortunately, not many in the industry have caught on. With the exception of a few Eastern European classics like Stolichnaya, expressive by tradition, most brands still favor production methods that strip vodka of all character. Enter Hard Cut Vodka: a potato-based spirit that prides itself on having far more talking points than your run-of-the-mill hooch. A fun fact: It's made by Hollywood's own Dolph Lundgren, and if you've seen "Rocky IV," you already know it's not the kind of vodka that's going to make a polite exit.
That was exactly Molly Horn's first impression, "It comes in at 90 proof with the tagline: "it stands up" (if you're a Dolph fan you'll appreciate this) — it tasted great, and I also think it's really interesting to offer a slightly overproof vodka that will, to their point, stand up to other flavors in a cocktail the way an overproof whiskey or a navy strength gin does," she says.
But Hard Cut's strength doesn't just come from bearing Ivan Drago's imprint; though that's definitely part of it. It's distilled from Idaho potatoes prized for their high starch and low water content, then proofed down with Rocky Mountain water — not just for poetic reasons, but for that subtle minerality you won't get from, say, glacial melt. But what gives Hard Cut its backbone is that it's bottled at 45% ABV, defying the industry's 40% standard. The higher proof allows the full-bodied flavor and earthy mouthfeel of the potato, along with the minerality of the water, to really shine through; resulting in a renegade vodka that clearly took the colorless-odorless-tasteless masterclass, but was bold enough to make tweaks.
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