GSN Review: Double Cross Vodka

First impressions are important. When you’re interviewing for a position as a bartender, you want to look your best.  Double Cross Vodka immediately puts itself in a class above other vodkas through its presentation.  The bottle is rectangular, made of steel and glass and individually numbered.  It would be fun to stack these and build a house of vodka.  But, the container is not what’s important, ultimately it’s the vodka within.

Legally, vodka is supposed to be colorless (yes), but also have no odor or flavor.  Out of the many vodkas I’ve had over the years, they have all failed on these two counts.  Of course vodka has flavor, and usually at least some alcohol nose.  Double Cross Vodka does an excellent job with both of these.  There is a sweet, citrusy and fresh quality to the nose.  Very appealing and unusually mouth-watering.  The flavor is exceptionally smooth and almost creamy with very little alcohol burn.  Normally, my first impressions of a vodka include a heavy rainwater or mineral quality.  There is some of that here, but it is superseded by an almost vanilla-like sweetness that is both refreshing and dessert-like.  This could be due to the distillation process which includes both distilling and filtering the vodka seven times before bottling.

I tried this vodka straight at room temperature, straight out of the freezer and in a 3-1 vodka/dry vermouth martini.  All three expressions were top-notch and each had a light, elegant quality that showed off the superb distillation.

Of special note is a product specifically designed to go with a Double Cross martini; French black truffle and feta cheese olives made by The Santa Barbara Olive Co. for Double Cross.  These are large Spanish olives in brine with a rich flavor that really does bring out the best in the vodka.  Several bars across the U.S. are serving these special olives in their Double Cross martinis.  Do your bar a favor and order these olives.  Your guests will keep coming back for more.

GSN Rating: Double Cross Vodka – A

GSN Rating: Black Truffle Olives – A

Find out more about Double Cross Vodka at Doublecrossvodka.com