Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/343109
62 / the tasting panel / july 2014 COVER STORY T homas Kuuttanen is too young (and too Swedish) to reminisce over the Motown hit, "How Sweet It Is." But that's no matter; it's not a song he would sing anyway: The straight-talking Master Blender and creator of Purity Vodka doesn't subscribe to the philosophy of flavoring vodka. And his award-winning vodka is proof he doesn't need to. Eighty-proof. "Over the past several years I've watched the tremendous growth across the vodka category through the proliferation of flavored vodkas. While I don't agree with adding artificial flavoring to vodka, I'm not here to criticize those that create or drink them. I want to offer a vodka that is best consumed straight-up or on the rocks—a subset of more discerning vodka drinkers for whom the taste of the vodka itself truly matters." It's no coincidence that this less-is- more kind of guy ended up with a spirit called Purity Vodka. Kuuttanen hovers between calling himself "old school" and a purist, but one thing is clear: If he were still in school, he'd have a recess- time smackdown with sweeteners. And he'd win. "My job is to ensure people know that Purity Vodka is a spirit that stands out from the crowd—an old-school vodka, if you like. We are so different, with lots of full body and character; it's necessary that people understand what you can do with Purity and what you cannot do." At the top of his list of no-no's is mixing his vodka, made from a secret combination of winter wheat and malted barley, with anything that could get in the way of its distinctive tasting notes—malt, white chocolate, some lime and a complex mineral- driven finish. It takes a bold spirit to make one, and Purity Vodka has an impassioned