Vodka

Grey Goose

The initial idea for Grey Goose was to develop a luxury vodka for the American marketplace, something Frank had been considering for a while when he came up with the name. The development of the product followed from this initial intent. After its launch in the American market, Grey Goose became very popular due to a "confluence of timing and trends" according to Seth Stevenson, in addition to guerilla marketing techniques. Grey Goose was made more expensive than other premium vodka brands in order to produce a better product and to create a "superpremium" category in the American liquor market.

In 1998 Grey Goose was named the best tasting vodka in the world by the Beverage Testing Institute. The company was eventually sold to Bacardi for US $2.2 billion in August 2004. That year Grey Goose was the best-selling premium brand vodka in the United States. The company sold more than 1.5 million cases that year.

A bit bitter but not much burn overall flavorless.

Ketel One

Ketel One is produced by the Nolet Distillery in Schiedam, the Netherlands. The Nolet Distillery was founded in 1691, and has remained in the Nolet family ever since. Ketel One is so named for the original coal-fired copper still that was used to distill it, Distilleerketel #1.

In 1794 a windmill known as "the Whale" was built on the property. In 1867 the family began to focus on exporting their products. They opened a distillery in the United States in 1902 and sold vodka under the Imperial Eagle Vodka brand name. However, they were forced to close it during the prohibition era, with Joannes Nolet forced to flee the country.

The town of Schiedham has long been known for the alcohol industry. Currently it has a distillation museum. By the end of the 1800s the town boasted over 400 distilleries. However, the industry was hit hard by World War II, and by the end of the war only 40 were left. Within the next few years changes in technology and consolidations and mergers left Nolet as the only distillery still operating in Schiedham.

When Carolus Nolet, the tenth generation of the family to own the company, took over for his father in 1979, the company made a wide range of spirits. However, he made the decision to focus on one product, and make it the best it could be. The company began producing jenever exclusively. Ketel 1 Jenever quickly became the best selling Jenever brand in the Netherlands. At that point the company began to look at returning to the United States market. Carolus began to develop a vodka designed specially for the American market, focusing on quality.

Nolet returned to the U.S. market in 1983, launching Ketel One Vodka in San Francisco at the BIX Restaurant and Supper Club. Rather than advertising directly to consumers, the company encouraged bartenders and distributors to sell their product. In 1991 Carl Nolet Jr. moved to the U.S. and founded Nolet Spirits USA. Between 2000 and 2010 the company released two flavored vodkas, Ketel One Citroen and Ketel One Oranje.

Ketel One is very smooth. In the mouth, it is fairly flavorless. There’s no burn on the way down, though there is a mild bitter flavor left in the mouth afterward.

Pinnacle Vodka

It is filtered with Charcoal. The vodka is produced by White Rock Distilleries, Inc and imported by White Rock Distilleries, Inc.

The taste is initially slightly bitter getting more bitter as time goes on and through swallowing. It doesn’t burn on the way down.

Stolichnaya

A vodka made of wheat and rye grain. A well-known Soviet brand, the ownership of Stolichnaya is disputed since the fall of the Soviet Union between Russian state-owned company FKP Sojuzplodoimport and SPI Group, a private company chartered in Luxembourg, founded and owned by Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler, that distributes a wide variety of Russian spirits, having purchased a number of former Soviet brands and operations. While FKP produces in Kaliningrad, Russia (for the Russian market and the Benelux market), SGI Group distributes and produces from Latvia.

There is confusion about the actual birth date of Stolichnaya vodka. The earliest confirmed production date is 1948, but the label design clearly predates 1946. It is likely that it was created by V. G. Svirida around 1944. However, there is a trademark registration dated 1938, which is sometimes quoted as another birth date.

In 1953, Stolichnaya was introduced at the international trade show in Bern and received a gold medal. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, bottles were made in Ukraine for export.

In 1972, the PepsiCo company struck a barter agreement with the government of the Soviet Union, in which PepsiCo was granted exportation and Western marketing rights to Stolichnaya vodka, in exchange for importation and Soviet marketing of Pepsi-Cola. This exchange led to Pepsi-Cola being the first American consumer product to be produced, marketed and sold in the U.S.S.R. Directly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Stolichnaya vodka continued to be produced for export in several of the ex-Soviet republics, including Ukraine. The bottles retained their Soviet-era labels.

The flavor is muted at first but slowly starts to reveal itself as bitter-sweet. The swallow, while smooth, burns slightly and warms on the way down, leaving a bitter taste behind.

Tito's Handmade Vodka

Produced in Austin, Texas, in the first legal distillery in Texas, established by Bert Butler "Tito" Beveridge II. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Beveridge received the diminutive nickname "Bertito", shortened to "Tito", from his Latino caregivers in childhood. Tito's Handmade Vodka is made from yellow corn, instead of the more commonly used wheat or potatoes, resulting in a mildly sweet aftertaste, and is distilled six times.

The shot, even warm, is completely neutral. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is simply ethanol and water. The only taste is the standard ethanol burn. Goes down smooth.