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The Top 10 Best Vodka Brands to Try in 2022
At one time the best vodka brands were dominated by a few large European distillers and their offshoots. They all aimed to make the cleanest, crispest vodka with little flavor or aftertaste, at an easily palatable price.
While that still remains the goal for many cheap vodka expressions, much like the gin industry vodka is changing to accommodate new taste and flavor options, innovative craftsmanship, and regional personalities.
The following list of the best vodka brands to try in 2021 includes some great bottles of spirit from the word’s top producers. It mixes new entrants, old favorites, and interesting flavored products that are sure to interest the vodka aficionado or novice.
Best Buy
1. Absolut Elyx Single Estate Handcrafted Wheat Vodka
Absolut Vodka Elyx defines luxury Swedish vodka, made from single estate winter wheat (this means the grain only comes from one specific source prior before distillation). The vodka is hand produced in an antique 1921 copper column still and bottled at 84.6 proof, however the silky smoothness is such that you can completely disregard the hike in alcohol content.
Absolut Vodka Elyx delivers a beautifully smooth taste and almost completely non-existent bite, suitable for the novice and vodka lover alike. At its price point under $50 Absolute Elyx is hard to go past if you’re looking to enjoy a premium vodka crafted with commitment to quality and innovation.
2. Ciroc Vodka
Another on the list of top-quality French vodka production, Ciroc is a grape-based gluten free vodka which drinks clean and crisp, with just the barest hint of fruit on the palate.
The standard Ciroc vodka is distilled five times from mauzac blanc and ugni blanc grapes to create a spirit with little burn on the tongue and in the chest, which is a huge deal when separating the best of the best. The creamy mouthfeel, smooth taste, and zesty notes of fruit really make Ciroc a standout vodka whether snap chilled or served on ice.
3. Skyy Vodka
I’ll wager it’s harder to find a smoother tasting Vodka for less than 20 bucks than Skyy Vodka, which is born and bred in San Francisco.
Sky’s process of quadruple distillation and triple filtration to offer a dry, medium bodied vodka with a smooth taste and with creamy mouthfeel. On the tongue it adds smatterings of anise and coriander with a slight tinge of pepper through the finish.
Skyy is a cheap vodka offering tremendous value for the taste. Should you end up with a nasty hangover (please drink responsibly people!), drop some Skyy vodka left into a fresh and meaty Bloody Mary next morning to put you right well into the next day.
If the Skyyy plain vodka doesn’t tickle your fancy you can get a range of flavored vodka choices from the brand; watermelon, blood orange, citrus and an interesting pineapple expression you can add to vodka soda for different variations of a companionable mixed drink.
4. Smirnoff Vodka
Globalization has opened up the world of vodka, however Smirnoff remains a tried and true brand popular throughout bars, clubs, and personal stashes of mixologists everywhere. Smirnoff began vodka production in 1864 and has grown into the most popular selling Vodka brand worldwide; its familiar red label is likely to be in the shot chute at your local haunt.
The premium alcohol content is created by triple distillation from a blend of different grains, then filtered ten times through seven columns of charcoal. This process results in an exceptionally pure-tasting, smooth spirit that’s easy on the palate and light on afterburn.
Smirnoff created the Moscow Mule cocktail during World War II, and it remains a cocktail for every vodka lover to enjoy.
5. Chopin Potato Vodka
Chopin Potato Vodka is the world’s most awarded potato vodka distilled at Polmos Siedlce distillery, Poland. Its unique, creamy mouthfeel belies its crisp aftertaste and the notes of nuts, black pepper and fragrant flower flavors give this Polish vodka a more full-bodied flavor than the other almost neutral vodka spirits in the market.
Chopin, who also have rye vodka, wheat vodka, and a premium Family Reserve variety makes for great standalone vodka that is ideal for sipping neat or in a simple vodka martini or gimlet.
6. Grey Goose Vodka
My first experience with the Grey Goose vodka brand came from the lyrics of a NAS rap song. After God’s Son dropped and I first heard Made You Look, I had to get a bottle just like my favorite rapper.
It’s good stuff! Grey Goose is a brilliant grain vodka made using the finest French ingredients, including top-grade wheat from Picardie, and limestone-filtered spring water from Gensac-La-Pallue. Grey Goose is beautifully clear in its appearance, tasting fresh on the palate with just a hint of almond and grass notes.
A premium vodka for any occasion Grey Goose vodka features smoothness and exceptional taste, suitable for a round of ice chilled shots or for use in premium vodka cocktail drinks.
7. Ketel One Botanical Cucumber & Mint
Dutch distillery Ketel One offers real ingredients and natural flavors within its range of botanical vodkas, which include plain vodka, orange, grapefruit and rose, and peach and orange varieties. This great vodka expression utilizes sliced cucumber and mint botanicals blended and distilled through a copper pot still and then infused with the natural essence of fresh, crisp, and fragrant herbs.
Ketel One Botanicals offer no carbs, artificial flavors, sweeteners or sugars, and is crafted from 100% GMO grain. The Ketel One Cucumber and Mint is a fantastic option for the vodka lover looking for a well-crafted spirit you can add to a simple mixed drink or crisp classic vodka cocktails, such as a vodka tonic or vodka martini.
8. Belvedere Single Estate Rye Smogory Forest Vodka
Belvedere Single Estate Rye Vodka Smogory Forest (and its fellow Polish rye vodka grain to glass expression Lake Bartezek) are the new school of Polish vodka production, distilled with local personality and the emphasis on crafting distinct regional alcohol and bottling it.
Taste wise the Smogory Forest shows off an interesting aroma and palate, trading in the ultra-premium crispness and clarity for hints of Polish favorites, including spice, vegetation, and peppery blasts on the tongue. This Belvedere vodka is a tremendously innovative and unique drink that can be used in any situation, from the ultra-chilled round of shots to start the party, or to the classic Belvedere vodka cocktail you can find at a gala event or opening.
9. Stolichnaya Russian Vodka
Stolichnaya is the brand name synonymous with Russian Vodka (and those hectic Ready to Drink double strength citrus combos that laid waste to many young people pre-drinking before the club or party). Stoli is a selected grain vodka distilled 3 times then filtered through birch charcoal, quartz sands, and then blended with pure water from an artesian well to create it’s clean, easy to drink smoothness.
Given that it’s the most popular vodka from the country most known for it, Stolichnaya is a can’t miss choice for use in any environment, whether mixing at home, getting bottle service out and about, or crafting the perfect Moscow Mule.
10. Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka
Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium vodka is a unique, clean, and certified gluten free vodka crafted from Midwestern corn. If you’re wondering why there is the image of a golf course on the bottle, it’s because Fuzzy’s Vodka was created by Frank Urban Zoeller.
“Fuzzy” is a golfing legend whose professional career produced 10 PGA victories, including the 1984 US Open and 1979 Masters (as a first-time player).
Fuzzy’s Vodka is distilled 5 times then charcoal-filtered 10 times for crispness and an exceptionally smooth finish. Adding to its individuality in taste, a portion of the corn vodka distillate is rested in new American oak barrels to complete this rare and extremely unique process.
Fuzzy’s great vodka is an almost universally highly rated expression enjoyed in a shot glass, mixed drink or Sunday pre-tee off Bloody Mary.
