Skyy is an American vodka producer founded in 1992 in San Francisco, California. The brand was created by Maurice Kanbar, who developed a proprietary quadruple-distillation and triple-filtration process designed to produce a cleaner, smoother vodka with reduced congeners—the...
Skyy is an American vodka producer founded in 1992 in San Francisco, California. The brand was created by Maurice Kanbar, who developed a proprietary quadruple-distillation and triple-filtration process designed to produce a cleaner, smoother vodka with reduced congeners—the compounds that can contribute to hangovers.
Skyy vodka is produced using American grain and filtered through California limestone, which the company claims helps remove impurities while maintaining the spirit's character. The brand pioneered several marketing approaches in the premium vodka category during the 1990s and became known for its distinctive cobalt blue bottle design. The production process emphasizes purity and smoothness over traditional vodka characteristics like texture or subtle flavor notes.
The core Skyy vodka expression remains the brand's primary offering, though the company has expanded into flavored vodka variants over the years. Skyy is now owned by Campari Group, having changed hands several times since its founding, but continues to be produced using the original distillation and filtration methods developed by Kanbar.