It's a PGA first, mixed drinks available to spectators on the course during play.
The PGA is testing out the concept and Austin-based Tito's Handmade Vodka is providing the service at the Wyndham Championship. Spectators can purchase cocktails and cordials on the rocks at a tent prominently placed near the first and 18 holes. The main focus here however is the Vodka, Tito's Handmade Vodka to be exact.
Bottles of the spirit are displayed prominently in the tent-- as they should since the vodka played a major role in securing the brand's role in providing cocktail service for the PGA.
"We were approached by the Wyndham to partner up," said Richard Nestro Jr., eastern region vp of sales. "A couple of the guys are big fans of the brand."
The brand loyalty paid off, this is the first time the PGA has allowed a spirit brand to have a branded tent at an event.
Tito's Handmade Vodka is a boutique vodka created in 1995 by Tito Beveridge, the running joke is with a last name that sounds exactly like beverage he was destined to get in the business. With degrees in geology and geophysics, Tito isn't your typical distiller-- but then again Tito's Handmade Vodka isn't your typical vodka.
The 80 proof vodka is distilled from corn, not from wheat-- because of this the vodka is one of the few gluten free varities available on the market. The vodka is distilled in a copper pot-- a process similar cognac and single malt whisky. Six times the impurities from the top and bottom of the copper pot are removed.
"This gives the vodka an extremely smooth taste," explained Nestro. "Tito went around and asked people want they wanted in a vodka. He wanted to make a vodka that a woman would enjoy to drink straight."
The result is an ultra smooth, crisp vodka. The vodka has almost no smell and is light and crisp on the tongue. Like some vodkas in the same price point, this vodka doesn't have a lingering taste and doesn't coat the tongue and leave you with a strange mouth feel. At the end there is however a slight mildly sweet almost herbal finish like you'd expect from a gin taste that comes from the corn.
The taste has atracted international attention. Tito's Handmade Vodka was awarded Double Gold in the World Spirits competition in San Francisco and has also been awarded four stars by Spirit Journal.
Nestro recommends drinking the vodka straight or in a martini. For consumers not as bold as Wyndham Championship patrons, bartenders were also featuring three cocktails: Tito's half and half, Tito's super sonic and Tito's Sunrise. Tito's half and half is made with lemonade and iced tea, Tito's super sonic is made with tonic water or club soda and Tito's sunrise is made with orange juice and a splash of cranberry juice.
Nestro stressed that these were cocktails specific to the Championship saying the company is working hard with mixologists to develop more refined specialty mixed drinks for the Tito's brand.
On top of having a unique taste, the vodka also is attracting eyes for its very basic, plain packaging. The bottle was actually designed by a college
student in Texas who used a Microsoft Word font to create the label-- Lucida to be exact. According to Nestro, there are no plans to change this because they want to cut cost on the vodka to make it available to the most amount of people as possible.
Tito's price puts it in the middle range, in North Carolina a 750ml bottle costs $20.95. The vodka is available nation wide. Last year, the company sold more than 250,000 cases.
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