A Flowery Song

Background: “Flavored Vodka with a Southern Accent,” according to the bottle. Infused with local tea (well, local-ish; production seems to have been moved from Wadmalaw Island, North Carolina, which was very close to the Charleston Tea Plantation, to Frankfort, Kentucky) and sweetened to resemble (what else?) sweet tea.

Nose: Alcohol and tea, with some fruity esters.

Taste: Shockingly, it’s not syrupy sweet, but almost drinkable. Fruity black tea with hints of blueberry and bramble. Light dusty tannins help balance the sugar.

Overall: Nicely done; it’s almost palatable straight, but if their serving suggestion of half Firefly/half water is too wussy for you, you might try mixing it 50/50 with regular vodka instead.

Background: Rye-based artisan vodka from northern Michigan that’s won gold medals from the Beverage Testing Institute and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  In addition to this plain offering, they also have one flavoured with (hopefully Michigan) cherries.

Nose: Ooh, that’s spicy.  Some floral and melon notes as well.

Taste: Smooth and creamy, spicy hints of citrus and an oily finish with some flinty minerality.

Overall: Okay, time for me to stop being so dismissive of vodka.  While I still maintain there’s much less room for variability than in most spirits, the difference in character between this vodka and, say, this other one is actually quite large.  This smooth, spicy, and sweet product is an excellent introduction from an up and coming distillery.  I’m looking forward to any future offerings, though I have to say that “less of the
juniper and more botanicals” rather misses the mark in what I want from a gin.

Background: This corn-based vodka is pot-distilled six times by what is currently Texas's only legal distillery, Fifth Generation in Austin, then filtered through activated carbon and bottled.

Nose: Fruity and solventy.

Taste: Rich, fruity, and vegetal.

Overall: Smooth and relatively characterful (for a vodka, at least), and an excellent value.

Background: Bottom-shelf, triple-distilled molasses-based vodka from Melbourne, Australia. There's a picture of a boomerang on the bottle.

Nose: Rubbing alcohol.

Taste: Solventy alcohol on the front. A bit of sweetness, and a fruity finish.

Overall: Typical cheap vodka; mixes well. The only molasses-based vodka I've seen, so it might be worth trying just for the novelty value. Other than that, it's nothing special.

Background: A new premium vodka from Penderyn Distillery. 100% wheat grain spirit that is column distilled five times.

Nose: Spirity, slightly fruity.

Taste: Smooth neutral spirit with mild fruity influences. Pretty much just tastes like alcohol.

Overall: It's vodka. Smoother than the cheap stuff, but there's not a lot of character in any vodka.