Double Cross Vodka

What catches you first about Double Cross vodka is the remarkable (and award-winning) packaging--it truly is a world-class design with excellent attention to both the minute details (like the wax seal) and the gestalt of refinement and luxury. Typically, when a bottle looks this good it raises some red flags that it might be compensating for a so-so spirit inside. This is not one of those bottles, however.

Double Cross vodka is one of the rare creations that genuinely deserve the “premium” moniker. Made in Slovakia from organic, estate grown winter wheat, distilled and filtered seven times each, and exquisitely clean, this is a vodka that sips as easily as it mixes. The body is a touch viscous without tasting artificially smooth, and it delivers both a slightly citrusy and slightly mineral-tinged mid-palate. The grain-heavy finish imparts a mildly spicy note that ties the whole experience together without dominating it.

This is, overall, well worth adding to your shelf if you enjoy nuanced and delicate vodkas that can stand on their own just as well as they mix. The scene-stealing aesthetics are an added bonus to an already superior product, so pick one up and soak it all in.