Spirits Vodka 11 Essential Vodkas Everyone Should Have in the Liquor Cabinet By Carey Jones Carey Jones Carey Jones is a San Francisco-based freelance writer who covers spirits, drinks, food, and travel. Her bylines appear in The New York Times, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Saveur, Vogue, Travel + Leisure, and others. She is the author of Brooklyn Bartender (2016) and co-author of Be Your Own Bartender (2018).Experience: For almost two decades, cocktail enthusiast Carey Jones has traveled the world to report on spirits and cocktails. She has toured shochu distilleries in Japan and cut peat in Scotland. Cary has also interviewed coffee growers in Brazil and eaten her way through Malaysia. Carey spent five years as an editor at Serious Eats, where she wrote various feature columns, including "Dining Out," "Taste Tester", and "Food Industry." She was the New York site editor when the Serious Eats team was honored with a James Beard Award for Best Food Blog in 2010. She wrote a weekly drinks column "Liquor Cabinet Roulette" for Food & Wine's website with her husband John McCarthy. They specialized in creating accessible and deliciously inventive cocktails for the home bartender.Education: Carey graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature/Letters. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on February 8, 2019 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Courtesy of Zubrowka For mixing into dirty martinis, splashing with soda, or spiking up any drink you can think of, vodka is a necessary bottle. And it's key for entertaining; while some drinkers aren't partial to gin, say, or tequila, virtually no one has a vodka aversion. But which should you get? Here are eleven bottles to know and try. 01 of 11 Tito's Handmade Vodka Courtesy of Tito's Handmade Vodka How, exactly, did Tito's skyrocket from obscurity to ubiquity? The poster child for the American craft spirits movement, Tito's is now, in many parts of the country, the call vodka of choice. And hey, we've got no objections: It's reasonably priced, made in America from 100 percent corn, and distilled in copper pot stills, giving it a bit of weight. ($19 at wine.com) 02 of 11 Grey Goose Courtesy of Grey Goose So popular that its fans often don't bother with the full name. ("I'll have a Goose and soda.") While there are equally tasty vodkas for far less money, the spirit, made in copper stills from a blend of rye, barley, wheat, and corn, is lush and drinkable. ($36 at wine.com) 03 of 11 Sobieski Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits - Americas Fan of Belvedere? We'd steer you toward a less expensive, equally tasty Polish vodka: Sobieski. Made from Polish Dankowski rye, it's the best-selling spirit in the vodka-loving nation—silky and smooth on the palate. No big marketing push here; just a fairly priced spirit. ($25 at drizly.com) 04 of 11 Aylesbury Duck Courtesy of Aylesbury Duck The 86 Company creates spirits especially for bartenders, and their Aylesbury Duck has taken off in the mixology community—distilled from Canadian winter wheat, it's clean and bright with hints of grain and spice. Above all else, it's mixable (which is, after all, the whole idea). ($26 at totalwine.com) 05 of 11 Luksusowa Courtesy of Luksusowa It's a common misconception that vodka is made from potatoes. And it can be, though it's more often distilled from grain. The best-value potato vodka brand? That'd be the Polish-made Luksusowa, rich and warming with a hint of sweetness. ($28 at drizly.com) 06 of 11 Ketel One Courtesy of Ketel One One of the true vodka heavyweights, Ketel One only dates back to 1983, but it's produced by the Nolet Distillery—a family-owned business in the Netherlands since 1691. Along with Grey Goose, the wheat-based vodka is an absolute bar staple, often called for by name. ($29 at wine.com) 07 of 11 Russian Standard Vodka Courtesy of Russian Standard Vodka When you think vodka, you think Russia, right? Here's the best-selling premium vodka in the country, distilled from winter rye. Clean, crisp, and easy-drinking. ($32 at totalwine.com) 08 of 11 Stolichnaya Courtesy of Stolichnaya A classic, made from wheat and rye and then quadruple-distilled. A solid value and very mixable—the preferred vodka of many a bartender. ($27 at wine.com) 09 of 11 Reyka Courtesy of Reyka When a bottle of vodka gets up to the $50-60 range, odds are you're paying for marketing. Unlike whiskey or Cognac, vodka doesn't go through an expensive, time-intensive aging process; the spirit is intended to be crisp, clean, and easy-drinking. We adore Icelandic-made Reyka, a great value at around $20/bottle, as pure and easy-drinking as they come. ($30 at reservebar.com) 10 of 11 Absolut Elyx Courtesy of Absolut Absolut's high-end vodka is like catnip to bartenders. (Their branding doesn't hurt. Ever seen a cocktail served in a copper pineapple? Absolut Elyx is inside, guaranteed.) Made from estate-grown Swedish winter wheat in a 1920s copper still, and bottled at a slightly higher proof than most vodkas (42 percent, rather than 40), it's rich and weighty, smooth enough to drink on its own, and killer in martinis. Or any other way you'd like to mix it. ($47 at wine.com) 11 of 11 ZU Zubrówka Bison Grass Vodka Courtesy of Zubrowka And now, for something completely different. Vodka is, by definition, virtually flavorless. ZU is anything but—the bison grass flavor is complex and grassy, a little spicy, with a strong nose of vanilla. Mix it with apple cider, as they drink it in Poland, or play around with it in cocktails. But whatever you do, don't call it a flavored vodka. ($30 at caskers.com) Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit