It’s difficult to find a drink that bitters don’t make better. Their enhancing, tie-the-room-together qualities can take a cocktail from ordinary to extraordinary. But sprinkling them on top of vodka? Never occurred to us. Then again, vodka on the rocks isn’t a common beverage at Cocktail Enthusiast HQ. Reyka Vodka is an Icelandic vodka that’s garnered much appreciation since its fairly recent introduction to the U.S. market. And Brooklyn Hemispherical Bitters is a small shop producing some very interesting bitters, including rhubarb, sriracha, black mission fig and meyer lemon. These two companies joined forces to create the very small batch...

Cinco Vodka hails from San Antonio and is billed as “the five star vodka.” It’s actually crafted from amber wheat shipped in from Idaho, but it reclaims its Tex-centricity by using water that’s filtered through the Cordova Creme limestone found beneath San Antonio. In keeping with the cinco theme, the vodka is distilled five times and then blended and filtered in small batches. The Cinco website claims that it’s a “martini lovers vodka”, but we all know martinis are made with gin, so we’ll just dive in, sans mixer. Cinco has the slightest top note of alcohol, but beneath that is...

Blue Ice American Vodka is produced by Idaho-based 21st Century Spirits. It’s distilled from the local bounty – Idaho Russet potatoes – and cut with mountain spring water. Blue Ice Vodka is created in a four column still, which allows the master distiller to remove impurities without stripping away all taste and texture. It’s then filtered five times to achieve clarity. On the nose, Blue Ice is layered with sweetness and mild earthy notes. There’s some alcoholic burn, but nothing too intense. Take a sip and the vodka is sweet and smooth with a round and creamy mouthfeel. It’s very neutral,...

Russian Standard Vodka has been produced in St. Petersburg since 1998. It’s distilled from Russian winter wheat and cut with glacial water from a local lake. It’s also the vodka of choice in a Moscow Mule. Russian Standard’s aroma is light and fresh, with traces of wheat bread overshadowing the slight hit of alcohol. It’s thick and viscous on the palate, with more wheat flavors and a sweet, vanilla creaminess. It moves toward a drying spice on the finish that coats the tongue for a rather long finish. Russian Standard is a good value vodka. It plays up its Russianness in...

Today, Denver-based Spring44 Distilling announced the launch of its Spring44 Vodka, Honey Vodka and Gin. Each spirit is produced with water from the Colorado Rocky Mountains that’s sourced at 9,044 feet and is supposedly some of the best water on earth. From the company -- Spring44 Spirits are 5x distilled exclusively with Spring44 water from a unique American grown multi-grain blend of wheat, corn and rye. Spring44 uses a virgin coconut husk carbon filtration system. This natural filter helps ensure the smoothest and purest product possible. Spring44 Gin is produced with a propriety blend of 12 all natural botanicals, creating a magical,...

I Spirit Vodka is a new Italian vodka created in partnership between restaurateur Arrigo Cipriani (owner of the famed Harry’s Bar), the enterprising Lapo Elkann of the Fiat family and Friuli distiller Marco Fantinel. Using a traditional recipe from the northeastern region of Italy, I Spirit Vodka is distilled from grains and white grapes, blended down to 80 proof with spring water from the Dolomites and then chill filtered. And though it’s distilled a whopping five times, it seems I Spirit still has some flavor left in it per it’s 91 rating at the recent Ultimate Spirits Challenge in NYC. On the...

ZU Bison Grass Flavored Vodka is a take on Zubrowka, which is the generic Polish term for vodkas made with bison grass. The FDA bars the import of authentic Zubrowka, as it contains a property called coumarin, which in high doses can be toxic. Hence ZU, a bison grass “flavored” vodka for the U.S. market. Distilled from rye grains, ZU is then infused with plant extracts that mimic the flavors of real bison grass. Unlike most vodkas which are crystal clear, ZU is a pale yellow color. This could be partly due to the grass and herb extracts, or due to...

Vodka’s an interesting spirit. It’s consumed in higher quantities than any other liquor, yet it’s maligned by a large segment of the mixology community. There was even a panel at last month’s Tales of the Cocktail dedicated to the love/hate relationship between drinkers and vodka. One important note to come out of the panel discussion was that most vodka haters actually despise the marketing more than the spirit itself.  The Ultra-Mega-Super-Premium, Octuple Distilled labels and corresponding price tags relegate many vodkas to mere lifestyle products, rather than spirits of true substance. So it’s refreshing that Wódka vodka, a quality, Polish-made rye vodka, is now...

If you’re bored with fruit-flavored vodkas, don’t despair. Now you’ve got options in the meat-flavored category.  First it was Bakon Vodka, which enjoyed a successful launch last year, and now an Alaska distiller has produced a smoked salmon vodka. I assume their target market is the carnivorous drinker looking to shave precious minutes off his day by combining his food with his liquor. The Alaska Distillery in Wasilla is behind the new spirit. "I was trying to think of something Alaskan. What's more Alaskan than smoked salmon? It was one of those epiphanies, I suppose," said Toby Foster, an Alaska Distillery...

Vodka enjoys the rare distinction of being the most consumed liquor in the world, while simultaneously being the liquor most detested by cocktail bloggers and booze snobs.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with the stuff.  It’s like chicken – unexciting but unintimidating. Vodka’s lack of flavor makes it the perfect addition to a cocktail, say some, while this lack of flavor imparts nothing to a drink, rendering it a worthless additive, say others. Then, of course, there are the myriad flavored and infused vodkas, ranging from espresso to mango to protein. Brilliant marketing ploy that makes vodka fun and accessible for...