Cutwater Fugu Vodka

Cutwater Fugu Vodka is the house spirit behind one of America's most decorated canned cocktail brands — distilled from premium grains at Cutwater's Miramar, San Diego distillery and filtered 15 times to achieve the exceptional purity and smoothness that the Fugu name references: named after the venomous puffer fish, the world's most methodically prepared delicacy, demanding the same precision in its creation.

Yuseff Cherney — formerly the head brewer and distiller at Ballast Point Brewing — founded Cutwater in 2017 and built the Fugu Vodka as the foundation of the entire canned cocktail lineup. The 15-time filtration is unusually thorough by any standard, producing a vodka clean enough to serve as the base of award-winning ready-to-drink cocktails while remaining an excellent neat sipper and cocktail ingredient. Browse all Cutwater at Wooden Cork.

Tasting Notes

• Nose: Clean, neutral, and pure with a light grain sweetness
• Palate: Exceptionally smooth — the 15-time filtration removes virtually all impurities, producing a clean and neutral spirit with no harshness
• Finish: Clean and medium with no burn

Specs

• Distillery: Cutwater Spirits, Miramar, San Diego, California (est. 2017)
• Style: Vodka
• Filtration: 15 times
• Size: 750ml

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Cutwater's vodka called Fugu?

Fugu is the Japanese puffer fish — the world's most precisely prepared culinary delicacy, requiring meticulous technique and dangerous consequence if handled incorrectly. Cutwater named their vodka after the Fugu fish to represent the same methodical precision applied to producing a spirit of exceptional purity through 15-time filtration. The name signals the brand's craft philosophy: nothing is left to chance.