Notes: Grey Goose,  the 800 lb gorilla of vodka, has launched it’s first flavor in five years. While we have not been fans of their vodka for a while  because it costs a lot of money for an at best a mediocre product, we did think that maybe they could finally produce a flavored vodka that would be worth trying. With access to some of the world’s best cherries and some skillful blending, we did have hopes that it would be an interesting blend and not a candied chemical vodka like so many others of late.

Appearance: Sparkling clear, somewhat viscous appearance, on swirling leaves a thick edge line with large droplets and legs slowly forming.

First Impression: The vodka does in fact smell like cherries, but also of a number of other red fruits such as strawberry and raspberry along with a somewhat bitter nose.While the bitterness and seed-like notes denote the use of real fruit to us, it may be off putting to some.

Taste: Not particularly good vodka with cherries and too many candy-like flavors  of red berry/fruit flavors with  banana, melon and spices. I think if they had stuck to cherries, and not added “other red fruits” and whatever else,  this might have been tolerable. As it sits, it is an indistinct mishmash of cherry and candied fruit flavors and spices.

Drinks: Obviously you could mix it with another corrosive substance – coca cola ( which unlike Grey Goose, is capable of removing paint from a car) if you like that kind of thing. They have a series of cocktails on their webpage. It’s a bit like a spiced rum in terms of drinks – either you like the bouquet of what they use and it works for you, or you chose another brand. Personally, I found the melange a bit too wide for a my personal taste but it might be great in some form of sangria or punch (which frankly it reminds me a lot of).

Bottle: Frosted bottle of course ( their signature it seems) but whereas many people have copied the frosted bottle motif, they seem to be copying the Van Gogh Vodka series in terms of a reverse impressionistic painting down to  signature Van Gogh colors.

Other: If you look carefully, you will find that the term “World’s best tasting vodka” is a trademarked slogan, not a statement of fact. Check other reviews and ratings for real results not trademarks, think and try other vodkas for yourself.

Final Thoughts: While not nearly as foul as many other “cherry” flavored vodkas out there,  it seems to have fallen into the other trap of trying to combine too many flavors to broaden appeal. But on the other hand,  they are trying for up to twice as much money as some of the others in the fake candy flavor category so I would expect more. Try some of the other real cherry vodkas we reviewed or a cherry eau de vie ( distilled, unaged cherry brandy/liquor  made from 100% cherries).

I’m  disappointed by this vodka – you would think they could do better with all their money and reputation at stake,  but they chose to go with a medley rather than distinct flavor. Reminds me a good bit of the Bacardi Rum Dragonberry, where again they combined too many elements and tried for a symphony and ended up with just noise instead.

Website: http://www.greygoose.com/LDA?returnURL=/our-vodkas/cherry-vodka

Quite a complex and multilayered website with oodles of information and drink recipes. Relatively easy to navigate and great graphics.