What do you give to the person who has everything? Or to the person who doesn’t have everything and doesn’t know what they want? Or, especially, to the person whose bar seems boring when you visit? Spirits!

Choose spirits with unique personalities and interesting stories. They start conversations. They add pizzaz to parties. And you don’t risk duplicating something already in the recipient’s bar. Here are three excellent spirits that fit the bill.

Chase Smoked Vodka 80 proof (40% alcohol) $33

It’s Unique Because…

Chase Distillery makes spirits and liqueurs only from products they grow on their own farm in Herefordshire, England. That’s about 125 miles west by northwest of London, fairly close to Wales.

Chase makes their vodka from their farm-grown potatoes. Then they flavor it with oak-smoked water, created from their own spring water in an on-site smokehouse. [Oak-smoked water is a recent, culinary innovation, enabling high-end chefs to add light smokiness to foods. It’s infinitely more delicate than liquid smoke.]

Tasting Profile

Chase Smoked Vodka is smooth and clean with a soft, creamy mouthfeel. The base vodka is very nearly neutral, so subtle oak smoke is the only significant aroma and flavor. 

The smoke is easily discerned, yet nuanced and very attractive. It has nothing in common with the peaty smoke common to Islay Scotch, nor with pungent, hickory-laced Liquid Smoke. Think about the comforting smell of a large room warmed by a hearth of glowing logs.

How to Drink It

Straight: Chase Smoked Vodka is very enjoyable straight. I’d recommend serving it quite cold or with a single cube of ice. This would is also a good way to go for your first experience with it, so you can get to know its unadulterated character. And, while I haven’t tried these pairings yet myself, I think it would be great with either raw oysters or high-quality, black caviar.

Martini: My preferred serving option for Chase Smoked Vodka is in a Martini. I use 1/4 teaspoon of Vya dry vermouth per ounce of the vodka. The result is fuller in the mouth than the straight vodka. It’s also more complex and elegant, but still masculine.

This is a Martini James Bond would love. He’d need to accept stirred, not shaken, though. Shaking will dilute the vodka too much and also make the drink cloudy. 

Other Cocktails: The smoke will add an intriguing accent to many vodka cocktails, but clash with some. Look for recipes that already incorporate smoky or earthy flavors. Avoid things that are heavily focused on fruit, flowers, or brightness. So, skip the Cosmopolitan, Moscow Mule and Lemon Drop. Do try it in Bloody Mary’s (especially with a bacon garnish) or a Greyhound. And I enjoyed it in a Black Russian I made with St. George Spirits NOLA Coffee Liqueur (which isn’t nearly so sweet as Kahlua).

You might also use it as a subtle substitute for mezcal or Scotch, or a savory switch-out for gin. Try it in a Last Word or a Negroni.

Re:Find Vodka 80 proof (40% alcohol) $38

It’s Unique Because…

The Re:Find distillery is operated by Alex Villicana in Paso Robles, CA. He’s a grape grower, winemaker, and a distiller. He makes Re:Find vodka by distilling wine made from locally grown grapes. So, it’s essentially a brandy, but without any oak aging.

Tasting Profile

Re:Find vodka is colorless and crystal clear. The nose is very pretty, with nuances of white flowers, vanilla, red cherry, melon, cream, and toasted bread. It somewhat resembles a fine, Junmai Daigingo sake. [The vodka is made from just the pure juice of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre grapes, so there’s no red color and none of the bold flavors or tannins you’d expect from wine.]

The palate is medium-bodied for vodka. Flavors include toast, red cherry melon, savory custard, and nutmeg. The finish is long, a little peppery, and gently warming.

How to Drink It

Because Re:Find vodka starts out as wine and isn’t distilled to neutrality, it is more complex than the most vodkas. That complexity, coupled with the smooth palate, make it an interesting vodka to dink neat or on the rocks without any additions.

I also like it very much in a Martini with just a small amount of Vya dry vermouth. The vermouth adds even more complexity, while making the palate softer, smoother, and more full-bodied. Resist the temptation to add even a drop of orange bitters though. That somehow neutralizes most of the other flavors, leaving you with a muddled disappointment.

If you like highballs, I recommend Re:Find vodka on ice with soda, rather than tonic. Even very good, and relatively subtle, tonic masks the beauty of this vodka almost entirely.

Victoria Distillery Empress 1908 Gin $40

It’s Unique Because…

Color makes Empress 1908 Gin stand out. In a glass, by itself, this eight-botanical gin is electric blue. The hue derives from one of the botanicals, butterfly pea blossoms. Even more intriguing, the color changes markedly with mixers. Add citrus juice or tonic water and it turns vivid pink.

Also unusual is the place of origin. Empress 1908 Gin is made by Victoria Distillers on the waterfront in Sidney, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Tasting Profile

The aromas are pretty; loaded with grapefruit, orange, fennel, cinnamon, and a touch of rose petal. The palate is light and citrus-forward with a peppery finish.

How to Drink It

Since Empress 1908 doesn’t have an idiosyncratic flavor profile, it’s versatile when it comes to gin-based cocktails. Gin and tonic is a solid option. And it was lovely in a Martini with a splash of Vya dry vermouth.

However, Empress 1908 was essentially made for the Aviation cocktail. Victoria Distillers includes a recipe on their website. 

• 2oz of Empress 1908 
• 1/2 ounce of freshly squeezed lemon juice (use a Meyer lemon)
• 1/2 ounce of Maraschino liqueur. (I recommend Maraska Original Marashcino Cherry Liqueur) 

It’s a very good, refreshingly lemon-forward cocktail. It’s also dangerously gulpable. And, with Empress 1908, you get brilliant Aviation color, without the addition of any violet liqueur.

Violet liqueur is the reason Aviations have fallen out of favor, twice. First, the product simply went out of production, robbing the drink of its colorful character. When new producers came on line, decades later, the cocktail made a brief comeback. But drinkers quickly decided the liqueur lent a soapy taste they didn’t care for. So imbibers and their bartenders moved on.

That said, I find a modest amount of The Bitter Truth Violet Liqueur creates appealing color without adding too much sweetness or an unwanted soapy accent. I’m not at all above using it in an Aviation for myself or guests now and again.

When I added a few drops of The Bitter Truth to the recipe above, I liked the results quite a bit. It does make a surprisingly different drink though. The purple-pink color was deeper but, more importantly, the addition dialed back the lemon flavor and emphasized the cherry. The little bit of extra sugar makes the palate fruitier and less tart. The richness makes it more of a sipper than a quaffer. But. enough acidity remains for a long, mouthwatering finish.

Conclusion

The explosion of craft distillers in recent years means there are thousands of unique spirits on the market these days. Many of them have very interesting back stories that can make cocktail hour more interesting. Spirits like Chase Smoked Vodka, Re:Find Vodka, and Empress 1908 Gin make great gifts and your friends will think of you fondly every time they bust out a Martini.

Sustainability

Chase Distillery runs a bio-boiler, fueled by cuttings from their orchards, to generate their heat and electricity. And they re-use as much as possible from their other crops, be it to feed their Hereford cattle or to fertilize for the farm.

Re:Find only uses unprocessed, natural ingredients sourced from organic growers. The  colorless grape juice they distill for fermentation would otherwise be discarded.

Copyright Fred Swan 2019. Images courtesy of the respective distilleries. Feature image courtesy for Re:Find Distillery. All rights reserved.

About the author: Fred Swan is an Oakland-based writer, educator, and event sommelier. He’s written on wine and spirits for GuildSomm.com, Daily.SevenFifty.com, The Tasting Panel, SOMM Journal, PlanetGrape.com, and more. Fred teaches a wide range of classes at the San Francisco Wine School. He’s founder/producer of Wine Writers’ Educational Tours, an annual, educational conference for professional wine writers. He also leads seminars, private wine tours, and conducts tastings, dinners, and events for wineries, companies, and private parties. Fred’s certifications include WSET Diploma, Certified Sommelier, California Wine Appellation Specialist, Certified Specialist of Wine, French Wine Scholar, Italian Wine Professional, Napa Valley Wine Educator, Northwest Wine Appellation Specialist, and Level 3 WSET Educator. He’s three times been awarded a fellowship by the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers.