The 9 best vodkas for your home bar, according to bartenders and our taste tests

Vodka is unique in that it can be made from a wide variety of raw ingredients. It is most commonly distilled from fermented grain, like wheat and rye, but potatoes are also regularly used. Any agricultural product that has sugar in it can be fermented and made into vodka. What makes vodka different from other spirits is that it is colorless, odorless, and mostly tasteless. To achieve this, vodka is usually distilled many times and often filtered to remove any residual flavor from the base ingredient.

Mixologists enjoy working with vodka because you can mix it with almost anything. So it's no surprise that the All-Purpose Vodka from St. George Spirits was a favorite among our experts. "It's so versatile," says House. "This vodka was always on my back bar."

This vodka is distilled from both fruit and grain, which imparts the vodka with a slight fruity sweetness. It's called the all-purpose vodka for good reason. You can use it to make smooth Moscow mules and martinis, and it is also easy to sip neat.

Vodka originated in Eastern Europe, and there it is most commonly consumed neat. The best vodkas are prized for their velvety finish and approachability — Chopin Family Reserve is one of the smoothest we've tried. "It's palatable and nice to drink," DiMonriva says. "It's not ethanol forward at all." 

The potato-based vodka is rested for two years in Polish oak barrels to achieve the highest degree of smoothness. "It has barely any burn and it's delicate on your palate," House says. The ideal way to enjoy this vodka is sipped neat, but it also makes a great extra-dry martini.

There's no shortage of affordable vodkas on the market. Most of them are astringent, harsh, and frankly not worth drinking. Thankfully, Smirnoff provides crisp, clean flavor at a budget price.

Smirnoff is a classic well vodka at many bars and a go-to for vodka cocktails. "It's tried and true," says House. "There's a reason it's a big name." It has the classic vodka flavor that drinkers expect and its affordability makes it convenient to mix with.

Every martini drinker has a preference for how they like this classic drink mixed. One thing that doesn't change is that the spirit of choice should be center stage. For a vodka martini, Kástra Elión offers more body than other choices and can transform the vodka martini into a decadent drink.

Kástra Elión is distilled from grain and green olives in Greece. The olives give the vodka just a hint of brininess and a silky mouthfeel. "It's a dope Mediterranean vodka," says House. "It really captures the essence of olive oil."

The bloody mary isn't really a spirit-forward cocktail. Drinkers usually order it for the combination of tomato juice, lemon, and other seasonings — the vodka is often an afterthought. With the St. George Spirits' Green Chile vodka, you get the perfect complement to the savory ingredients in this cocktail.

"It's great for a bloody mary. You can get the added dimension of the spice and vegetable flavors without having to muddle chiles," says House. This vodka smells and tastes exactly like a cutting board full of freshly chopped chile peppers and cilantro. It provides a balanced burst of fresh chile flavor with minimal heat. "I love mixing with this vodka," says DiMonriva. 

The Moscow mule was one of the cocktails that helped popularize vodka in the United States. The combination of lime juice, ginger beer, and vodka served in the iconic copper mug was an instant hit. For a fun and modern twist on this mid-century classic, House recommends using Humboldt's finest hemp-flavored vodka.

Distilled in Humboldt County, California, this vodka is infused with local botanicals, including hemp seeds. It offers notes of fresh pine, cucumber, and basil. "It almost comes off like gin," says House. "The botanicals really accentuate the other ingredients in a Moscow mule."

Following the success of Absolut Citron and the Cosmopolitan in the late 80s, the vodka market was flooded with flavored spirits. From fresh berries and ginger to bacon and cotton candy, almost every flavor imaginable can now be found in a bottle. 

With so much on the market, some flavored vodkas are better than others. According to our experts, Grey Goose's pear-flavored vodka is one of the standouts. "You definitely get a lot of crisp, bright pear notes," says House. The fruity, brightness sets this vodka apart from many of the overly sweet, artificial-tasting flavored vodkas out there.

Russia is commonly lauded for producing some of the highest-quality and crystal-clear vodkas in the world. Russian brand Beluga lives up to that perception with their malted wheat and barley-based Transatlantic Racing expression. "Its smoothness really makes it sought after," says DiMonriva.

Inspired by a sailing team that crossed the Atlantic Ocean in record time, this vodka is a balanced, clean pour with slight notes of citrus. "It's approachable, neutral, and great for many cocktails," says House. "And best of all, it's great with caviar."

The history of vodka is a bit unclear, but some experts believe that it first began being distilled in what is now modern Poland. In some parts of Poland, vodka was traditionally flavored with a native species of grass that bison commonly grazed on. This centuries-old practice continues today with Żubrówka's bison grass vodka

There are many Polish vodkas worth searching out, but none are quite as uniquely Polish as Żubrówka. "The bison grass gives it a flavor similar to tonka bean," says DiMonriva. "It's similar to pistachio with chocolate overtones." This vodka is great when sipped neat, but its singular flavor can add complexity to any vodka-based cocktail.

There are plenty of other great vodkas out there that present a wide variety of flavors. Here are some of the others that we tried and our experts recommended, but just didn't quite make the cut.

Under $20

• Tito's: This Austin, Texas-produced vodka is an affordable option for your home bar. It has a nice sweet note to the front end that's likely imparted by the corn it's distilled from.
• Humboldt Organic Vodka: Distilled from organic sugarcane, this all-purpose vodka has a hint of vanilla and citrus.
• Skyy: If Smirnoff isn't for you, Skyy makes a great alternative. Skyy offers a budget-friendly, California-produced alternative to other mixing vodkas. 
• Reyka: This crisp, clean vodka evokes the Icelandic landscape where it is distilled. It's a versatile mixing vodka and also very pleasant to sip when chilled.
• Absolut Citron: The original choice for the Cosmopolitan, this citrus-flavored vodka is a favorite among flavored-spirit drinkers.

$20 and up

• Castle & Key Sacred Springs: The Castle & Key distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky uses the same recipe for this vodka as they do in their stellar bourbon whiskey. It's no surprise that this vodka exhibits the sweetness and spice common in the bourbon world.
• Broken Shed: Hailing from New Zealand, this vodka is distilled from whey and mixed with fresh water from different regions of the country. It's a nuanced, balanced vodka with a subtle grassy note that works well both sipped and in cocktails.
• Wheatley: This crisp wheat vodka is distilled at the award-winning Buffalo Trace distillery and named after their master distiller Harlan Wheatley. It's distilled from the same wheat the distillery uses to make their Weller and Van Winkle lines of bourbon.
• Ciroc: This grape-based vodka is distilled in France. The grape presents itself as a soft floral note that makes this vodka unique.
• St. George California Citrus: Made from Seville and Valencia oranges, the citrus expression from St. George is a flavored vodka that offers a depth and complexity rarely found in other flavored spirits.
• Crystal Head Onyx: This vodka is distilled from the same species of agave that tequila is made from, which gives it a nice degree of sweetness on the front end. It's also packaged in an all-black, skull-shaped bottle.

When deciding on the best vodkas in each category, we asked two expert bartenders, Saeed "Hawk" House and Leandro DiMonriva to share their favorites with us and to walk us through how they approach using vodka when mixing cocktails. We tasted as many of the recommended vodkas as we could, and supplemented their recommendations by tasting a handful of other vodkas. Our top picks were decided by both expert guidance and in-house tasting. 

Tasting neat: Vodka is a spirit that's prized for its subtlety. To ensure that we picked up on every nuance, we tasted each individual vodka neat, meaning without mixers or ice, and at room temperature. We noted how balanced the flavor of each vodka was and if there was any harshness or off flavors. For flavored vodkas, we paid close attention to how balanced the added flavors were in the spirit and whether the flavors tasted artificial or unnatural at all.

Cocktails: We mixed up martinis, Moscow mules, and bloody marys. We used the same cocktail recipes for each, swapping out only the vodka. When tasting each cocktail we assessed how close each drink tasted to the classic flavor profile. We also noted whether or not the cocktail was balanced overall without too much sweetness, ethanol burn, or spice from the spirit.