Cutwater

Cutwater at a Glance

Cutwater has 5 distinct products with 5 total TTB label approvals, including Daiquiri (under 48 Proof), Other Cocktails (under 48 Proof), Vodka - Flavored. Labels approved between 2020-02-29 and 2024-12-30. Label origins on file: California, Utah.

At a Glance data sourced from public TTB records.

Cutwater Vodka: The San Diego Distillery Behind the Canned Cocktails

Cutwater's founder and master distiller Yuseff Cherney began making spirits as a hobby in the back of his brewery, custom-building his first pot still from an old beer fermenter to distill rum, vodka, gin, and whiskey, Cutwater's website says. The company started out only distilling spirits, and canned cocktails came later, its president Shreyas Balakrishnan told the San Diego Business Journal in 2021.

How Cutwater began inside Ballast Point

Cutwater grew as a small operation within the Ballast Point brewery, where the concept came from then-head brewer Yuseff Cherney and founder Jack White, VinePair reported in 2021. They grew it until it needed a separate distilling operation, and Cutwater moved to its new space with Cherney as master distiller. The San Diego Business Journal dates the company to 2017.

How Cutwater vodka is made in San Diego

Its Fugu vodka goes through six distillations and 15 rounds of filtration, a 2022 VinePair review says, comparing it with corn-based competitors. The distillery once experimented with plum schnapps made from local plums, and because plums yield so little juice the run produced a single bottle, VinePair reported in 2021. Cherney can still be found at the San Diego production facility perfecting recipes, the company's website says, and it credits him with pioneering a category through Cutwater's canned classic cocktails. He also holds the role of lead instructor of UC San Diego's Professional Certificate in Brewing program, VinePair noted.

How canned cocktails took over the business

By 2021 Cutwater offered over 20 canned cocktails made from its own portfolio of 23 bottled spirits, including tequila, vodka, rum, gin, whiskey, mezcal, and liqueur, the Journal reported. Its offerings spanned four categories, spirits, canned cocktails, frozen cocktail pops, and mixers, VinePair said. The company nearly doubled its revenue in 2020 compared to 2019, and California was nearly 50% of its total business, Balakrishnan said. Vodka-based cans released in 2021 included a nationwide Vodka Transfusion and two regional cocktails, Orange Vodka Smash and Huckleberry Vodka Spritz, and Balakrishnan said Cutwater would be sold in all 50 states by the end of that year.

Cutwater was the best-selling full-flavored canned cocktail in the US and the second best-selling RTD canned cocktail brand, AB InBev's news site said in August 2022, citing IRI data for the 13 weeks ending 24 April 2022. That year the brand debuted its Lime Margarita, Vodka Mule, Rum Mint Mojito, and Passion Fruit Mojito in the UK, the same story said. During the pandemic the company donated 50,000 meals to the San Diego Food Bank and made hand sanitizer in part of its production facility for local nonprofits, VinePair reported.

Label filers on file: Payson, then San Diego

A Cutwater approval dated 29 February 2020 was filed by Intermountain Nutrition, LLC of Payson, Utah and lists Utah as the label origin on file, the BUY.VODKA TTB snapshot shows. Approvals dated 13 July 2020 to 30 December 2024 were filed by Cutwater Spirits, LLC of San Diego and list California. Explore the TTB label data for Cutwater on this page.

Sources

• Cutwater Spirits (cutwaterspirits.com). “About.” Undated. https://www.cutwaterspirits.com/about
• AB InBev (ab-inbev.com, Beyond Beer news story). “Three things to know about Cutwater Spirits, one of the fastest growing, ready-to-drink cocktail brands.” 30 August 2022. https://www.ab-inbev.com/news-media/brands/three-things-to-know-about-cutwater-spirits-one-of-the-fastest-growing-ready-to-drink-cocktail-brands
• VinePair. Nicole MacKay, “9 Things You Should Know About Cutwater Spirits.” 16 July 2021. https://vinepair.com/articles/ntk-cutwater-spirits-rtd-canned-cocktails-guide/
• San Diego Business Journal. Brad Graves, “Cutwater Spirits Continues Upward Trajectory.” 22 September 2021. https://sdbj.com/news/weekly-news/cutwater-spirits-continues-upward-trajectory/
• VinePair. “Cutwater ‘Fugu’ Vodka Review & Rating.” 26 July 2022. https://vinepair.com/review/cutwater-spirits-fugu/
• TTB Public COLA Registry via BUY.VODKA data snapshot (src/data/labels.json, local build 16 October 2026). “Cutwater” label approvals. Local read-only query, 16 October 2026.

Produced at Multiple Facilities

• Intermountain Nutrition, LLC
• Cutwater Spirits, LLC

Related Brands

• Svedka also from Utah
• Hideout also from California
• New Amsterdam also from California
• Seagram's also from California
• Midtown Spirits also from California
• Muscle also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Veil also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Stoli also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Heritage Distilling CO also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Holla also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof

Related Questions

• Where is Cutwater vodka made?
• Who makes Cutwater vodka and who owns the brand?
• What proof is Cutwater vodka?

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