Seems that every year or so, there's a new influx of premium and/or unusual vodkas on the market. Therefore, every year or so, I have a new vodka post for you. Not necessarily about the taste since, in all honesty, I have not tried all of them, but more about the bottle design or concept. And in some case, just unusual, limited editions or hard to find vodkas.
Yes, I've covered the gun shaped and
skull shaped bottles, those with
Swarovski crystals and gemstones and even
those whose bottles are made from renewable and sustainable materials. But, just when I thought there wasn't much more Vodka talk out there, I found out there are vodkas infused with bacon, vodka bottles for which a tree is planted each time one is sold, bottles in Faberge eggs and even that tell your horoscope! How could I keep from sharing these with you? That said.... cheers!
1000 Acres and Blaze Vodka:
These stunning glass bottle designs for 1000 Acres vodka and Blaze Vodka By
The Arnell Group (images from
daily icon). These have made the rounds on design and packaging blogs, but I cannot find either of these Vodka companies, so I'm pretty sure these are protoypes. If you have a link to either manufacturer, please let me know!
The rest in this post are real actual purchasable vodkas.
Karlsson's VodkasWhether it's their newest Gold Vodka or their Vintage Vodkas, the apothecary-like packaging by Swedish art director and designer Hans Brindfors is modern and clean:
Go
here to learn about all their vintages and flavors.
Double Cross Vodka
Double Cross Vodka is a spring water and winter wheat based , seven step distilled luxury vodka produced in the Slovak Republic at a family run distillery.
above: While the gorgeous glass bottle is beautiful to look at, inscribed with Slovenian poetry on the back and a snap top lid, it's unwieldy, and very difficult to pour.
Order it online here
Tru Organic Vodkas
Tru Organic Vodkas use American wheat, California lemons, Bourbon Vanilla beans and vapor distilled water to bring you 3 different flavored vodkas.
By being efficient and careful in their manufacturing process and by planting a tree a bottle, two ounces of TRU vodka—the amount in a standard cocktail—
help remove 62 kgs of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. So those two ounces of vodka don't just eliminate your carbon footprint but help pull out an additional seven kgs of carbon dioxide from the air, where they contribute to global warming. For each bottle of Tru sold, a tree is planted. Find where you can
purchase Tru Vodkas here.Lovejoy Vodkas
Lovejoy Vodka from Integrity Spirits in Portland Oregon pays homage to the Great Clear One. Lovejoy Vodka is hand-crafted in small batches with compulsive care and affection, giving it a smooth quality with a unique character and flavor.
But Lovejoy Vodka also gets its character from its distinct labels. Lovejoy Vodka comes in four different designs, so you can choose the one that fits your mood. Same vodka, just different labels. You’ll even see new labels over time as we add new designs to the family.
And now, there's Hazelnut Flavored Lovejoy vodka:
buy it online here.BU-TAY Vodka
(yep, that's pronounced Boo- tay' like a big ol' butt)
BU-TAY Ultra Premium Vodka starts with some of the purest water in America, in Bend, Oregon. American Made, it uses corn grain Vodka and is filtered it five times through charcoal and crushed lava. Also comes in a Citrus flavor.
Buy BU-TAY here.Triple Eight Vodka
From Cisco brewers, this Nantucket Vodka has been around since 2001, but I've just now found it and really love the simple graphic label.
Triple Eight Vodka is the flagship product of
Triple Eight Distillery. The super-premium vodka is triple distilled using organic corn from Holland and blended with ultra pure water from their Nantucket well # 888. It also comes in flavored versions, such as cranberry, blueberry and orange (which was introduced to the line in 2003).
Cisco Brewers and The triple eight distillery also have an
online store that sells some fun gear with the wonderful label design like coasters and olives.
Learn more here.Ed Hardy Premium Vodka
Don Ed Hardy, the legendary artist and Christian Audigier, the men behind the now ubiquitous Ed Hardy brand has just announced a Vodka (they have several other beverages as well).
The bottle designs vary, so I'm not sure which you can find where. But in my searching,
Hitimewine and
NapaCabs are the least expensive I could find the liter bottles of Ed Hardy Vodka.
Bakon Vodka (yes, you heard right.. bacon)
Black Rock Spirits, LLC in Seattle Washington set out to do something different, something savory… something bacon. The company started with a superior quality potato vodka. Made from Idaho potatoes, it is smooth, slightly sweet with the well-rounded flavor that you only get from a quality potato distillation, with no strong burn or aftertaste.
Then they added the prefect peppery essence of actual bacon. Before you balk, take a look at these recipes, bet your mouth will start watering for Bakon Vodka:
As of today, Bakon Vodka is only available in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
For information about distribution, where to find Bakon Vodka, or on becoming a distributor for Bakon Vodka, please email
sales@blackrockspirits.comVampyre VodkaThe first red vodka in the US, It's triple distilled in England and they claim it's "wickedly smooth". Now, from what I have found, there seems to be both 'clear' and red' vodkas from this company as well as three iterations of the bottle design.
According to
drinkhacker, the two (clear and red) taste nearly identical, with the red being slightly sweeter. Also, you may get confused by the various spellings, but Vampyre or Vampire, they are both from
Vampire Vineyards.Vicious Vodka- Caffeine Infused
They start with Premium American grains and crystal clear spring water. Then their distillation process yields ultra premium vodka with a full and complex flavor to which they add pure caffeine. It is distilled three times from a mix of five grains. The company says that, aside from caffeine, there are no other additives in the bottle, the goal being a taste on par with super-premium, non-caffeinated vodkas. Vicious doesn’t offer figures, but it does say it has the most caffeine of any caffeinated vodka on the market, the maximum allowed by the U.S. government.
buy it online here.V2 and V2 Mint VodkasCaffeine in your vodka not enough for you? Then how about Vodka infused with caffeine and caurine? Or with caffeine, taurine and mint? Forget Redbull and Vodka, these do that for you!
V2 is a distilled spirit made exclusively of super premium imported vodka with Taurine and Caffeine added.
V2 (and V2 Mint) tastes like the super-premium, small-batch vodka which is one of its three elements. V2 is exceptionally smooth. The vodka used in V2 is made from long grain wheat. It is distilled five times and expertly filtered to be the best tasting vodka possible. The product is then infused expertly with a balance of Taurine and Caffeine.
Produced and bottled in Holland, V2 has everything you want and nothing you don’t want. There are no artificial colors, artificial flavors, carbonation, preservatives, or sugar, which is found in many energy drinks and low quality spirits.
V2 Mint is infused with natural mint extracts. Taurine (pronounced Tour–een) is the Amino Acid found in Redbull, Rockstar, and many other energy drinks. A drink made with V2 has as much intensity as a ½ cup of coffee. V2 and V2 Mint make no nutritional claims about the products.
buy it here.44 Degrees North Vodka
Available in 3 different flavors; Mountain Huckleberry, Magic Valley Wheat and Rainier Cherry. Around since 2006, it's made by 44 Degrees North Distillery in Rigby, Idaho.
The vodka used in 44° North originates from Idaho potatoes such as Burbank and Russet processed in a unique four column distillation process for the ultimate in purity and smoothness. Instead of bottling 44° North as an unflavored product, Ken and Ron decided to pay homage to the State of Idaho which is known for huckleberry as well as potatoes.
Go here for distribution.Americana Luxury Vodka
buy it online here.Potoki Wodka
(text from their site) At first it is soft and slightly sweet on the tongue. Its rich texture envelops the mouth, gradually arousing the taste buds, and you can soon see yourself ordering dinner and asking for a refill. While you are still toying in your mind with various menu options, the flavour moves to the back, turning into a long dry finish with nutty notes which are the trademark taste of Polish rye vodka. This pleasant experience is concluded by a warm feeling in your chest (and your heart).
American critic Paul Pacult writes of "a multilayered bouquet that begs for a half hour of sniffing and evaluation", and Robert Plotkin calls it "a remarkable achievement, one worthy of top shelf treatment."
Potoki WodkaSV Supreme, The Silk Vodka
SV is artisinally-crafted using hundreds of years of heritage combined with the best of 21st century distilling techniques resulting in a crystal clear vodka with a smooth as silk texture and body.
Filtered fourteen times through five different varieties of mountain crystals and minerals... crystal quartz, morion, chalcedony, topaz, and opal...that polish SV, Silk to an unparalleled level of natural smoothness.
SV Vodka The Gold Medal Winner "Exceptional Vodka" 92 Rating Beverage Testing Institute Nov. 2006
buy it here.
Pau Maui Vodka
Maui-based Pau Trading Company has recently launched
Pau Maui Vodka, which uses pure Maui Gold pineapple juice as the base for their vodka. If you're scratching your heads how a sweet and tart fruit like pineapple could possibly make good vodka, relax. The flavors all disappear during the distillation and filtration process. Master distiller Mark Nigbur states: "There is no hint of pineapple in the taste. What the pineapple juice does is make a nice, clean mash."
buy it here.Imperial Vodka's Faberge Egg Collection
From
Emperor's Brand, it's not the Bottle of Imperial Vodka that's impressive, it's the special Faberge Egg editions.
Vodka "Imperial Collection" presents the unique cases in the form of Easter eggs by Karl Faberge.
The manufacture of these eggs, along with carafes and glasses of Venetian glass with refined gilding requires craftsmanship and experience. The production of glass items (carafes and glasses) was entrusted to an old Italian factory where the secrets of producing famous Venetian glass were passed on from generation to generation since the 12th century.
above: Faberge Egg Containers hold Imperial Brand Vodka
The set consists of a corbel that is fixing four glasses and a decorative cap for the carafe. The corbel and cap are gilded in a galvanic bath. A large red glass crystal adorns the cap. A special source of pride is the graceful and elegant gold eagle, which completes the composition. One of the most famous Florentine masters, who for more than 30 years has been working at the invitation of the Pope in the Vatican, worked on its development. Producing the eagle and gilding glass requires manual work.
above: These run from $1,600.00 and up. You can learn more about them
here.Limited Edition Grey Goose Bottles For something really different, well known designer and interior decorator
Jacques Garcia, has created these special limited edition bottles of Grey Goose Vodka:
above: The limited edition will be launched during the
Cannes Film Festival next month and subsequently shown in Paris, until September 2009. The collection is also available to order by calling 0 810 070 060 (numéro azur, local rate) at a price of 520 €.
Zodiac VodkaA Gluten-Free, potato vodka made in Idaho, Zodiac Vodka is clever and imaginative, with 12 different bottles and a website to match.
From Zodiac Spirits, this "astrological' vodka has a really fun website interface. Once you input your birthdate, your zodiac sign is recognized and your experience on
the site (as well as the bottle) become adapted to your 'sign'.
The face of each Zodiac bottle features the flares of the sun surrounded by each of the twelve Zodiac symbols, or glyphs. The face of the moon is placed on the back of each bottle and can be viewed through a see-though window. This symbolizes the profound influence that the position of these celestial bodies at our time of birth has on personalities. The Sun represents the expressive energy in how your personality is shaped and the moon symbolizes the more impressionist side and your inner world of feelings and emotions.
Above: an example of the Libra personalization (yes, I'm a Libra)
An illustration representing your sign is etched at the bottom of each bottle. This provides a visual image symbolic of your Zodiac sign in its environment. The illustration contains subtle and sometimes obvious insights relating to your persona.
Inscribed on the back of each bottle is a brief description of your astrological sign and the certain traits that are more prominent in your personality and temperament.
So, what's your sign?
Go here.Nuvo Sparkling VodkaSlighty different but new on the market, is the sparkling Vodka drink aimed at women, whose bottle design looks like perfume.
The Ultra-premium vodka from France and sparkling French wine are infused with natural fruit nectar. 15% alc/vol (30 proof).
Buy it here (on sale!)Special thanks to drinkhacker.com for some of the info and some of the images. All other images courtesy of the distributors.Many of the above unusual vodkas can be found at the following online stores:
Gotham Wines & LiquorsHi Time WinesBeverage WarehouseNow, before you go writing me telling me about all the amazing Vodka Bottle designs and unusual vodkas on the market, you'd better see my previous posts (links below) in which I mention everything from Vertikal to Diva. So please read before you comment... I may already blogged about them:
•Stunningly designed Vodka Bottles
•10 Organic Vodkas
•Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Head Vodka
•Belvedere's 1X Vodka
