Martini Groove

Stoli's new marketing campaign is tied to another icon in the Bad Decisions industry, that's right, Playboy. They're rolling out a year's worth of promotions with Playboy with everything from changing their logo on one of their flavors to the Playboy Bunny logo to these commercials with Hef himself. It's a great concept. Would you have a drink with you? Check it out.

I've been a pretty big fan of the Absolut city series since the first one out of New Orleans.  Now, Absolut has teamed with Spike Lee to bring you Absolut Brooklyn.  Let's hope they do Brooklyn better than Domino's did. They've gone all out on gimmick for this whole series but most of the flavors have done a pretty good job of backing it up.  For Brooklyn they even changed the usual seal on the bottle and added some spikes to it.  Now that's fancy! Spike Lee did the design on the bottle and tried to match the feel of the red apple and ginger flavor inside.  On the heals of the launch, Absolut is donating US$50,000 to Habitat for Humanity in NYC. Look for it starting in June. Absolut Brooklyn

Chase Vodka won the best of the best at the 2010 SF World Spirits Competition and it's rather surprising.  Now, this isn't the kind of vodka you want to drink through your eye , it's the good stuff.  It's special because it's not from Poland, Russia, or the US and it's not a grain vodka.  It's made from taters and comes from Jolly Olde England. The vodka isn't made by one of the big guys but from a guy who was a big guy in the snack food industry.  William Chase was the founder of Tyrrell's, a company that makes potato chips (they call them "crisps!") and he chucked it all in 2008 to go and make vodka.  Apparently, he's one of those "over-achievers" we hear so much about.  He says he didn't do it with gimmicks (like a fire extuingisher for a bottle , which is freakin' cool!!) or with tons of marketing.  He just became the brand and pushed his stuff until he got it to 1,000 bottles a week.  Next year, Chase plans to...

Flavored vodkas are so hit or miss.  I've found very few to be mediocre in nature, most of them are completely awful or pretty tasty and unique.  Luckily, Absolut Boston falls in to the latter category.  Absolut Boston is a black tea and elderflower flavored vodka that shows a bit of tongue-in-cheek, unlike some of the other flavors in their city category. On The Eyes The bottle is pretty straightforward and looks like your regular Absolut bottle but has "Boston" on it.  Easy enough. On The Nose This is kind of crazy:  It looks like vodka but smells like black tea. There's absolutely no scent of the alcohol or elderflower in there and it's that same refreshing smell that you get when you take a whiff of a cold, sun-made, iced tea.  Every person trying it had a response of "It smells gooooood."  'Nuff said. On The Tongue Well, it tastes like black tea.  Unfortunately, there's almost no hint of elderflower in there.  I'm an elderflower...

Absolut's been busy over the last month.  The next city flavor up?  Boston!  Of course, it's green tea flavored (because Baked Beans would have been just weird) and it throws in a hint of Elderflower (Yup, just like St. Germain).  I've been drinking a bit of the bottle over the past few weeks and it's absolutely gorgeous, even though the flavors don't seem like they'd fit, it's a nice concoction.  A full review is to come. Absolut Naked is a bottle without much on it.  It has no label and it's out there as a statement against labels.  The bottle's "stark naked" and it's about going against prejudice and stereotypes.  Look for it in your favorite Duty-Free store.  Finally, there's Absolut Rock.  It's in celebration of Woodstock all-those-years-ago.  You know, the concert with crappy sanitation, STD's, and a bunch of people who wish they could bring it all back again.  Absolut Rock looks more like a bottle doing a bit of...

Three O Vodka is pulling out all the stops.  They got Kim Kardashian to launch their latest vodka and even found a clever flavor to launch, Bubble Gum.  You know what this means:  The entire world of drunk college girl shots is going to really take-off now, because those same girls are just so over watermelon shots and Purple Hooters.  Considering how amazing I am at mixing stuff, I'm sure that I could find some way to make this awesome.  Like...I could put it in ice and shake it and serve it in something pink.  Or I could I could put it in a tiny glass with a single pink ice cube.  The options are endless! Three Olives Tomato Vodka is great for Bloody Mary's.  The Root Beer one is fun to make a few things with.  I'm wondering how this one will really do.  Three Olives Bubble - US$22.99

So, if you look at today's top bartenders, including all of the ultra-cool ones mentioned in the latest Playboy article , they never really got in to the vodka thing, but lots of other ones did and it was somewhat integral in bringing back the cocktail craze. I think vodka was an important step to bringing us to the current renaissance of classic cocktails as well as helping us take baby steps to enjoying some of the more complex stuff that's out there right now. Vodka will always have a place at the bar and in a lot of drinks, but maybe not always as prominent as it was in the early 2000's. The Wall Street Journal points out that there's been a significant decline in the sweet cocktails of yesteryear (3 years ago) and that it's not being taken over by any one liquor but by many. Gin, amari, and others that create tastes that are far away from the Sphincter-tini's we were all getting charged $15 for (oh, and I enjoyed quite a few of them). The proof? ...

Square One loves vodka and the folks over there know how to do it right.  If you want to impress just about anyone then grab their Cucumber infused version and you'll spend the rest of the night drinking great gimlets. The recently launched Square One Botanical is stepping up to the plate with some tasty sounding flavors as well.  It's infused with 8 botanicals including pear, rose, chamomile, lemon verbena, lavender, rosemary, coriander and citrus peel.  It's potpourri in a bottle! It doesn't say what pricing is but the other one's both sell for US$29.99, so you can probably expect that price range.  Edit:  I just heard from the Square One crew that this stuff is 90 proof and not quite gin (no Juniper) so it's a "specialty spirit."  The extra processing makes it a bit more labor intensive so they're expecting to sell this for ~US$39.99.   Square One Botanical

And the vodka hits just keep on rolling. DQ Vodka's gimmick is that it's the "Nuclear Vodka" as the shape of the bottle resembles plutonium rods.  The unique bottle also has some functional purpose, as it is poured, the vodka is drawn through a central shaft, enabling oxygen to get into the liquid and allowing it to breathe. The wheat vodka uses water from a highly-protected, glacial source and is then distilled through multiple columns.  The interesting thing about DQ is that they start out with a fermented product that is already 9% alcohol.  Though I have no idea how this would change the flavor if you're going to end up distilling it to 90% alcohol anyway, I'm open to the concept.  I'm very open-minded when it comes to booze.  Before the whole thing is finished they add a bit of a "richer" product to the final batch, though there's no info on what that richer product is. Anti-nuclear protests have stopped this vodka from entering ...

Trying to sell vodka isn't always easy.  You have to go through things like "State Approvals" and "Liquor Boards" and "FDA Requirements That Make Sure You Don't Kill Anyone." Bullocks to that.  Silver Mustang Vodka is cutting the red tape and sending their vodka directly to you, just like the Shamwow!  However, there's still some red tape that the government has to get involved in so they only ship right now to California and Nevada.  Mustang vodka says that their vodka embodies "the living symbol of America's free spirit" and is, of course, made in Poland.  Which seems about right. This stuff is only available online and it comes in a plain box, just like the toys from those other places you order, so your neighbors won't think that you're a complete lush.  The bottles come in a gift pack of 3 and, right now, that's the only thing you can order, but why would you want to order just one anyway? Silver Mustang V...

Don't be fooled by my tough exterior and manly voice.  Or my well-rounded ass and formed biceps.  Don't even be fooled by my sexy walk that makes grown women feel like schoolgirls.  And don't let it slip by just because of my dazzling intellect or rapier wit.  Let none of these things stop you from believing for a second that I like what are considered "girly" flavors in drinks. The Setup I planned on having some friends over and trying Veev with them but, thanks to an unfortunate incident with a goat and several restraining orders, I quickly realized I had no friends.  I now have lots of stuffed animals and none of them were even interested.  All except one, shown here.  The name knitted on his adorable little jacket has been professionally blurred to protect his identity.   The Tasting Veev Açai is 60 proof which is a bit strong but it's not quite a liqueur either.  Drinkhacker called it a flavored vodka and I think I'm going to go w...

I'm liking Absolut's new ad campaign a lot more than their old one.  Their latest shows what the world would be like if the currency was Acts of Kindness.  Pretty clever.  Check out the video:

Lotus, P.I.N.K., and the other energy vodkas out there have done pretty well.  So well, in fact, that they've attracted the attention of some of the big boys, including Belvedere. Belvedere IX is set to launch and is looking to make you more awake and more drunk than those other ones. The vodka is 100 proof (most vodkas are usually 80) and distills in it's extra ingredients much like a gin. What extra ingredients? Well, there are nine, including: ginseng, guarana, acai, ginger, sweet almond, jasmine, eucalyptus, three cinnamon, and black cherry. All of which sounds very tasty. Because it's Belvedere, you don't need to wait for it to come to your state or your part of the world. They're rolling it out as fast as possible and with as much fanfare as possible. They expect it to hit the clubs first, of course. Belvedere IX

As "Eat Local" becomes more and more of a desire for people trying to be more sustainable, one distillery wants to promote the cause but not let you miss out on your vodka.  Prohibition Distillery is based in New York (Long Island) and the former investment banker and realtor brother-sister team want to add to their stock soon by making gin and bourbon.  This way, you can live in New York and not get your Organic Vodka from California, Bourbon from Kentucky, and gin from...well, wherever it is that gin comes from.  No info yet on release dates or prices, but the vodka is coming first with the gin and bourbon to follow.  Prohibition Distillery

Edit to the edit:  The owner has e-mailed me a lot and apologized for being...well, the way he was.  Let's see how it goes when this stuff hits the U.S. Edits: Slava Vodka, under penalty of legal action, asked me to make some corrections and remove their image. A nice e-mail letting me know where I was wrong would have been better but I guess they feel that pulling the lawyer card instantly will garner goodwill. If you're Canadian, you know just how important it is for an alcohol to be cheap AND good! It's the only country I've been to where many companies just advertise how much product you get without saying a thing about taste. Oh! Canada! Edit: Slava Vodka says you can't advertise quantity in Canada. Slava is a new vodka that is only available in Canada and is distilled 4 times and then filtered 12 times. 12 times! What are they making this stuff from that it needs to be filtered 12 times? Are we looking at the worlds first vodka made from steel re...

Vampyre vodka is a bit confused.  On the bottle, they spell it "Vampyre" but on their site and their web address, it's "Vampire."  A big, fat, Stan Lee style, No-Prize for the marketing guy that explains this one away. Either way, it's a blood-red vodka that has hints of almond and a slight sweetness that makes it go down easy.  It's perfect for having around the house for the month of October then trying to give it away the unused portion to your alcoholic aunt at Christmas.  Man, that'll really mess her up.  Drinkhacker has a full review on it if you want to know more. Vampyre(Vampire?) Vodka - US$23

The St. Germain's Elderflower Liqueur is pretty much the favorite thing in my bar.  It goes in almost any drink and gives it a great flavor profile. Pincer vodka not only has that same elderflower taste but also milk thistle and is combined with grain vodka to produce, what they claim to be, an almost hangover free vodka.  The healing powers of elderflower and milk thistle are two items that are supposed to help you get up a little easier in the morning. The product is about to launch in the UK with no pricing set as of yet. Pincer Vodka

I'm a media whore when it comes to cool commercials.  George Clooney's Martini commercials are some of the best out there and this new one from Diddy and Ciroc is damned good. It's Diddy partying to one of Sinatra's tunes and it was actually filmed in one of Sinatra's previous homes.  Kickass.

So much vodka, tons of time, but one post on them both.  Let's start off with Alaska. Just the other night, I woke my girlfriend from a sound sleep and practically screamed in her face, "ALASKA HAS NO VODKA TO CALL IT'S OWN!!  WHY WOULD SARAH PALIN ALLOW THIS?" Now I (and my girlfriend) can sleep easy knowing that Permafrost vodka has stepped up to the task.  This vodka is made from Matanuska Valley-grown potatoes, known for their high Potassium, vitamin C and B6 content, and water from Alaska glaciers. The company sources everything from Alaska and also operates as a green distillery.  It's made by a former bush pilot and already has the state all aflutter with it's first batch about to be released in 45 days. It will be selling wholesale for US$50. Now for Hawaii Hawaii is getting it's first truly Hawaiian vodka.  The forgettable Ocean Vodka has it's potatoes sourced from Idaho whereas the new Pau Maui vodka is made right in Hawaii. The...

Update!  Someone did some digging and came up with some pretty compelling evidence that it's the real thing and not a publicity stunt.  Read more here . My BFF Lisa sent me a link to this video that shows Dan Akroyd pimping a vodka that is inside of a crystal head.  There's some back story to this that's explained in the video below. I'm actually kind of at a loss for what to even say about this.  Dan Akroyd keeps looking at me like he's channeling P.T. Barnum.  However, he's also been involved with the occult for quite some time.  Once, he even made the Statue of Liberty walk through New York to a catchy 50's tune.  Here comes Crystal Head Vodka, a diamond-filtered vodka or a very dry infomercial to pimp Ghostbusters 3.