Tastes

An extremely niche offering, this tastes exactly like those peppermint candies you get from a barbershop turned into vodka form. Minimal burn as I would expect from Smirnoff and it doesn't taste cloying sweet. You wouldn't really drink this neat. More as a useful base for Christmas cocktails. You wouldn't really want this bottle around the entire year but it's an excellent choice for when you need a strong peppermint flavor that is drinkable and doesn't taste like artificial nonsense or too minty.

It actually smells quite amazing and on target. Just smelling this recalls pleasant memories of Winter with gingerbread lingering in the air. Granted you can smell the sweeteners and additives so as an experienced drinker I can also smell the headache from next morning but it's so overpoweringly pleasant I still looked forward to drinking this. There is just the faintest glint of ethanol in the smell but you really have to look deep for it. It tastes much more like syrup than flavored vodka though. Seriously, it almost has the texture of watered down syrup, which, in some ways, isn't an inaccurate representation of what this is. It doesn't quite taste like it smells either. I'd say it's closer to vanilla extract, caramel (artificial), simple syrup and Torani Hazelnut with vodka crashing the party at the last minute manifesting itself in a bitter, lingering aftertaste. If I didn't know what it was supposed to be I'd guess the flavor they were going for is caramel toffee and I'd wager I was just given some rather cloying holiday liqueur than a flavored vodka. Aside from the bitter finish there is almost no indication this is an alcoholic beverage. It's impossible to drink this stuff by itself. It's overwhelmingly sweet and sugary. You feel guilty for drinking it because there's no way all that sugar is good for you. I struggled finishing my glass just because of how much of a sugar overload it was. Still, as a mini this works wonders for seamlessly spiking your Starbucks drink and I can see it doing some work baking or for Holiday party mixes. So it has its niche which bumps this up an extra half star. Not terrible but it is quite excessive and decadent, so hard to recommend by itself.

The nose is pretty faint and fairly clean. Most immediate is a dusty grain smell. Let it sit and open and subtle overtones of vanilla or some other sweetness show themselves but you have to look hard. There's maybe even a hint of yeast or salt. It's hard to pinpoint anything specific because the aromas are so muted. And of course light ethanol and the slightest hint of corn. On the palate it is initially almost salty which then gives way to a very pleasant sweetness with a gentle creaminess going on. Midpalate you get the only indication this is a corn vodka but it's subtle. Then the finish is quite sharply bitter and of ethanol. Not too crazy about the finish as it's quite prominent in an otherwise smooth vodka. Texture is fairly oily especially for a corn based vodka. Overall I want to say that Tito's feels a bit overpriced given that sharp ethanol finish. Granted it's sweetness still makes it a nice shot and once you begin mixing the sweetness can go a long way while taming the ethanol finish. It's not hard to see why this vodka took off. But there are better options for less.

Not much going on the nose. There's a mixture of ethanol with minerals that's not inviting but not unpleasant either. Lingering in the background are faint hints of corn. Veil Vodka doesn't specify what it's made from, simply stating "American Grain" which seems like an euphemism for corn. Taste wise it doesn't taste particularly boozy. It is very unnaturally sweet at the mid palate which makes me suspect some sugar was added. Just as well as the end is fairly bitter. It's not an undrinkable or unpleasant bitterness albeit it is a benchmark of the quality of the vodka. For the price point this isn't bad. Makes for decent shots and the bitterness will be masked by any mixer. It's just nothing exciting.