- Single distillation
- Preserve flavor and body
- Rich, complex, and expressive
Vodka Made Differently
Character Vodka is a return to vodka’s old- world roots. Flavor-forward, full-bodied, and crafted for simple enjoyment.
The Golden Difference
Neutral vodka delivers what it’s designed for: a clean, unobtrusive spirit that blends seamlessly into cocktails. It’s consistent, camouflaged by design, and widely used behind the bar—perfect when the goal is invisibility and mixability.
Character Vodka, on the other hand, is made to be experienced. It’s rich in body, expressive in flavor, and crafted to showcase the natural integrity of its grain and terroir. With a smooth mouthfeel and layered complexity, Character Vodka enhances cocktails with intention and can stand alone in simple, elevated serves. It invites consumers to taste vodka differently—to sip it, appreciate it, and enjoy it with the same respect given to whiskey, tequila, or gin.
Golden Eagle Vodka pioneers this evolution: a new standard for vodka that doesn’t disappear, truly changing minds about vodka, for those who love it, and who resent it. Golden Eagle is Vodka with a point of view—crafted to be savored, not masked.
Character Vodka
Neutral Vodka
- Multiple distillations (6-100x)
- Remove all grain flavor
- Tasteless, odorless by design
Terroir of Montana
Golden Eagle Vodka owes its bold flavor and authentic character to Montana’s rugged, unforgiving environment. High-altitude fields, dramatic temperature swings, and nutrient-rich soils create a unique terroir that shapes our vodka. These extreme yet harmonious conditions are the driving force behind the spirit’s unparalleled depth and complexity. Montana’s untamed beauty and resilience are distilled into every bottle, making Golden Eagle Vodka a true reflection of the country that inspires it.
7,500 feet above sea level. Built by the elements
Golden Eagle’s wheat is grown in the foothills north of Big Sky Mountain—on land shaped by elevation, solar exposure, and one of the most extreme growing environments in the country.
Why climate matters
These dramatic cycles allow the plant to stress by day and recover overnight, maintaining an open leaf structure for morning dew and sun. The result: a bold, high protein, resilient grain with unmatched flavor and character—even in drought years.
America’s Most Flavorful Grain
Golden Eagle is crafted from a single-origin, high-protein variety of Hard Red Spring Wheat known as Dark Northern. Traditionally used to produce the world’s finest artisan breads, bagels, and pastries, this wheat has been bred and refined in Montana for over a century, naturally adapting to endure the region’s extreme climate. Often called the “aristocrat of wheat” for its robust flavor and elevated protein content, Hard Red Spring Wheat has historically been avoided in distillation due to its fermentation challenges, but we’ve found a way, and the result is worth it: rich grain character, a full-bodied mouthfeel, and a vodka unlike anything else in the category.
Protein = Flavor
The protein content in grain significantly contributes to its flavor. While using America’s highest protein wheat is undoubtedly a more complex approach, the results are well worth the effort. Many popular vodkas on the market today favor simpler, low-protein grains due to their ease of cultivation and distillation. With each additional distillation, the grain's flavor diminishes even more, resulting in a flavorless vodka, giving other vodka producers even more reason to use inexpensive, readily-accessible grains. When the goal is neutrality, it doesn’t matter what you begin with.
The Wheat Class Spectrum
Our Strategy
Single Distilled. Hearts Only. Built for Character. Every step of our production process is deliberately crafted to preserve grain integrity, not strip it away.
Mashing
We use a proprietary 5-phase mash method, engineered specifically for our high-protein wheat class (Hard Red Spring)—an uncommon approach in vodka production.
Through precise, temperature-specific enzyme additions, we unlock deep flavor nuances and preserve a big, full body rather than breaking it down for yield.
This intentional mash builds the foundation of Golden Eagle’s texture, mouthfeel, and character.
Fermentation
Fermentation spans six days, allowing for a slow, complete, and controlled conversion of sugar to alcohol.
By really slowing down the fermentation process, we preserve the depth, body, and grain complexity that defines our Character vodka.
While most producers ferment in just two
short days to prioritize speed and output, our process takes 3x longer, not for inefficiency, but for integrity.
Distillation
Golden Eagle is distilled once, slowly and precisely, in a custom Barbet-style continuous column still.
Most commonly used in rum production to create lighter, more aromatic expressions, the Barbet is atypical for vodka—making our use both uncommon and deeply intentional.
We distill in small batches (~1,000 gallons per run), quality-check every 5 gallons, remove the volatile heads and oily tails, and collect only the pure center “hearts” of the distillate—preserving nuance, purity, and true grain expression.
Our Purpose
Golden Eagle Vodka exists to redefine luxury for the greater good—not as a symbol of wealth and status, but as a call to embrace a culture of character, the strength of community, and the relentless pursuit of the American Dream. We strive to inspire bold living, encourage risk-taking, and celebrate personal sacrifice and excellence. By championing life’s true luxuries—family, friendship, and community—we aim to reignite a cultural passion for the American Dream, proving that better vodka can inspire a better world.
Why vodka?
from the founder
“Vodka needed work. As a career server and bartender, I’ve always appreciated great wine, bourbon, or whiskey. They have complexity, warmth, and character. But vodka? It was often harsh, tasteless, and always seemed to need something extra to make it enjoyable. The best companies create products that offer simple solutions to real problems.
Great bourbons and whiskeys are already incredible; no problem, no opportunity. But vodka? Vodka burns, lacks flavor, and leaves much to be desired. The opportunity was obvious.
I knew people were craving authentic products with real character and depth, and vodka was the spirit lacking it the most. So, we set out to change that. We created a vodka that’s naturally sweeter, richer, and genuinely better-tasting; a pioneer in a whole new category we call Character Vodka.
I developed the Golden Eagle brand before the vodka itself. I knew I wanted Golden Eagle to tell and inspire stories of the American experience, just as my own family’s heritage story inspired me. Our American dream began in 1886 when my great-great-great-grandfather immigrated from Holland, pioneering the American West and eventually settling in Blue Creek, Montana, in 1901. It was as if, by design, the search for America’s most flavorful grain had led me back to my roots in Montana. Here, I discovered not only the perfect wheat variety but also a way to honor my family’s legacy and the spirit of the American West."
Cheers,
