No doubt, you've seen Hangar One vodkas on the top shelf of your favorite bar. Perhaps you've even tasted some of their heady elixirs -- Buddha's Hand Citron, Mandarin Blossom or Kefir Lime. Maybe you've experienced the simple perfection of their Straight vodka. Or, if you're very lucky (or just in the know), you've may have discovered their Fraser River Raspberry vodka -- a concoction so sublime, so unbelievably redolent of the essence of fresh raspberry that it's only produced once a year and in limited quantities.

Well, once again, being a Bay Area resident has its privileges. In this case, it's the fact that you can visit the Hangar One (and St. George Spirits) distillery and tasting room at your leisure. No need to drive to Wine Country for an interesting tasting room experience. No, this one's located (where else?) in an airplane hangar on the old Alameda Naval Air Station.

Driving across the NAS, you get an eerie sense of history. Military barracks, officer's clubs, gymnasiums line the winding streets. As you get closer to the water, you see the looming airplane hangars -- enormous, cavernous structures, really. The St. George Spirits hangar is plainly marked, and parking is behind the building.

The tasting room staff are all charming and engaging; they love working there, and they want to you to find the product that "speaks" to you. A $10 tasting fee includes a special cordials glass, plus extremely generous pours of over 10 different distilled spirits. (You can share a tasting, which we chose to do, as one of us had to drive).

You'll start with Eaux de Vie, labelled under the Aqua Perfecta brand. Four hundred pounds of fruit (pear, raspberry or cherry), makes a mere five gallons of these potent, crystalline brandies. The purity of flavor is amazing but, watch out, these are strong spirits!

If you're a fan of Grappa, you'll really enjoy the Aqua Perfecta Zinfandel Grappa, with hints of zinfandel's characteristic spiciness.

Next you'll sample one of my favorites -- St. George Single Malt Whiskey. Did you know that, basically, whiskey starts as beer? And as Jorg Rupf, the distiller says, if you start with a more interesting beer, you'll get a more interesting whiskey. Rupf starts with a smoky brown ale, brewed from roasted and smoked barley. The brew gets distilled into something sweet and malty, then spends several years in port, bourbon and new french oak casks. The result is a sexy, silky, sweet and smoky whiskey with amazing depth of flavor. We're bourbon drinkers at home, but we have recently been keeping one of our decanters filled with St. George Single Malt Whiskey.

Now you're on to the Hangar One vodkas. You'll get to sample each of the five mentioned above, all neat and all at room temperature. Surprised? Don't be. You get a much cleaner sense of the flavor profiles of the vodkas when they are a bit warm. Of course, the alcohol heat comes on a bit more intensely, so bear that in mind before dismissing them as "too hot".

Finally, you'll finish off your tasting with Aqua Perfecta Liqueurs in Pear and Raspberry. The liqueurs are the result of fermenting the same fruit used for the Eaux de Vie, then stopping fermentation by fortifying it with the Eax de Vie of the same flavor. With 10-12% residual sugar, these liqueurs are velvety, rich and like drinking the juicy essence of the fruit in each sip. The Raspberry works wonders drizzled on perfect vanilla ice cream.

Hangar One & St. George Spirits
2601 Monarch Street, Alameda
510-769-1601