Review: Cinco vodka

Cinco Five Star Vodka is a wheat vodka made using water from the Edwards Aquifer, which underlies the San Antonio area. The amber wheat is described as from “the great American Heartland”, which typically is rather North of Texas.

Nose: minerals, light alcohol, wet clay, a touch of grass, dry grain, and a light sweetness.

Taste: initial sweet, with vanilla, wheat, with a bit of a peppery bite. Somewhat chalky, with minerals and salts on the palate.

Finish: slight sweetness and vanilla remain fading slowly to lingering minerals and pepper

A perfectly reasonable vodka, as small batch vodkas go. I can see this chilled as a shot, or with juices, or tonic. It should also make a decent vodka martini, although the subtle vanilla will be lost when mixed with vermouth.

A note to the makers: You obviously went to some expense on the custom bottles, but they are not very visible on a busy shelf. Consider either paper labels, or if you want to stick with the painted bottle, you need more area covered in your design, so it doesn’t fade into whatever is behind it. It’s worth standing out a bit.

Cinco Five Star Vodka (Cinco Ranch, San Antonio, TX) 80 proof, 750ml, $25

(Sample provided by Cinco Five Star Vodka.)