Vodka
Most vodka gets purchased like gasoline. Pick up what you know or what's on sale, pay, get out. Which makes a well selected vodka such a great gift. Unwrapping it lets its recipient know you actually gave some thought to what you were buying, that you maybe know something they didn't, that you cared enough to do better than whatever brand happens to line the shelf at eye level at their local supermarket.
That's why we put this collection together. Because vodka has a reputation it doesn't deserve. Folks tend to lump the entire category into one neutral flavorless bucket. It doesn't deserve that. Grain vodkas from the english countryside differ from potato vodkas born in Poland generations ago, which differ from small batch French wheats. The nuance is real, and it matters. Texture matters. Chill temp matters. How a quality bottle feels in a martini versus how a lower quality bottle feels are not insignificant.
We looked for personality without being fancy pants. There are a lot of vodkas out there that are trying to wow you from across the room. Super sleek bottles and Moscow Mule packs galore. We left those alone. Bottles don't have flavor. We were much more interested in what was in them. We looked for distilleries that knew what they were trying to accomplish, who had something to say about how their vodka was made and why, and produced something that would reward the drinker over someone looking for the most instagrammable bottle on the shelf.
Some of our picks will be perfect for the person who is serious about their martini. Some are best suited for the person who loves a Bloody Mary and wants a vodka that can stand up to the tomato and spices. Some are simply for the person who loves whiskey but really loves a craft version of their favouritebeer. You know, like how a great cook loves a good chef's knife.
We'd gift any of these to someone ourselves. That's our bar for everything we include in a collection like this. Would we bring this to a dinner party? Would we wrap this and gift it to someone on their birthday and feel like I did right by them? If the answer is yes, it made the cut. If yes doesn't come easily, we don't include it. No fillers here.