To try to understand the world of Vodka post-2010 is to run headfirst into the world of gimmick. It started with berry and citrus flavors. Then it headed into the direction of jalapeno and watermelon. Then it finally jumped the shark into birthday cake, churros, and dill pickles.
By and large, thinking about flavored whiskey is kind of like thinking about COVID, which is to say that both were ruinous viruses that upended a lot of apple carts and created a new normal in their wake. Perhaps not a better one.
So yes, the sickness started with Pinnacle’s Birthday Cake vodka. Then it spread to beers engineered to taste like cherries and whiskeys designed to taste like cinnamon. That was until consumers threw their hands up in frustration and turned to White Claw, in what I’ve taken to calling a “post-flavor” landscape.
One can only tolerate so much gross artificiality for so long. Or, at least in White Claw’s case, can only tolerate it at full strength for so long. The flavors are still nasty and chemically synthesized (i.e., not blackberry, but “froot”), but it’s easier to process them when the volume knob is turned down low.
Along the way, however, there have been a precious few flavored Vodkas that I have liked. I think success in the product category requires a simple treatment: approach it like a gin, but settle on one dominant flavor. An adult flavor is probably a wise bet—some kind of herb, spice, or citrus in isolation will probably get you some welcome novelty without the whole thing falling apart. So, yes, a new experience is a good thing, but I’m not on board unless the product has been engineered to give me a cohesive taste.
Enter Smoke Lab’s Aniseed Vodka, which also happens to be an Indian vodka made from a base of basmati rice and fennel seeds for flavor. Okay, color me intrigued.
Admittedly, I bought Smoke Lab’s regular ‘ol Vodka as a companion mini and tried that first. It was fine. Like everything in the Stoli archetype, it got out of its own way, but didn’t bring too much by way of sophisticated flavors and grain-forward character to warrant talking about. It’s getting harder for me to sit down and write about one-star vodkas that lack a quality they’re trying to hang their hat on.
The aniseed expression, though? Now I think we’re getting somewhere.
I’ll be damned if the nose of the Smoke Lab Aniseed didn’t remind me of buttery long-grain rice, but there’s also a distinct butterscotch sweetness that brings this back into the realm of popcorn. You can also get your nose in there and get all of those sweet, buttery flavors without getting nipped, which is always a good sign.
Tasting it, the sweetness doesn’t bowl you over. It grows out of the aroma with some semi-sweet chocolate, but otherwise it’s fairly neutral… until you get to some surprisingly herbacious fennel. That allium-adjacent punchiness does a lot to counterbalance the sweet, and moves right into a remarkably balanced finish where the anise finally emerges along with a helping of tarragon. It’s a fun ride.
Also, yes, I’m aware the company is named “Smoke Lab.” Rest assured, there’s no smoke that shows up as part of the tasting experience. Admittedly, this would not have been my choice for a brand name. It would be like opening a pastry shop and calling it “Brine Works,” and then you have to tell everyone who walks in the door, “They’re really not salty! No, really! Try one!”
Dumb name aside, Smoke Lab’s Anise Vodka fits into a general mold of an apertif or digestif, I think. It would make a pretty neat little amuse bouche for culinarians, and it’s drinkable enough without any pairing. In a word, it’s fun. That’s a goal I think a lot of those vodkas were trying to achieve back in the day, but to use some basketball slang, “Those shots just weren’t falling.”
A small bone to pick: Smoke Lab bottles its anise vodka at 37.5% rather than the bog-standard 40% ABV. I read that off the side of the bottle and audibly said, “Okay.” It’s like when high school students adjust the margins in Microsoft Word to get to a minimum page count—it’s hard to feel like it’s a move that fully benefits the end product and isn’t just some resource-stretching chicanery.
Not that I’m marking the spirit down for that alone. Smoke Lab’s anise vodka is fun, but it’d be a hard case to say it’s an essential purchase for the home bar, and vodka drinkers tend to be anything but adventurous. Nevertheless, if your interest was piqued by anything above, I think you’ll like it, and you should probably pick up a bottle if you’ve read this far.
