In the pantheon of fruit, blackberry’s a pretty uncommon flavor, relegated to the wasteland somewhere between blueberry and plum. Is it a little odd then that Stoli’s latest infused creation used blackberry for its sweetness? Not at all, as it adds a unique spin to summer cocktails that you’re unlikely to get anywhere else.

As with most off-the-shelf infusions, Stoli Blakberi is a little harsh on its own, too tart and with a chemical aftertaste that’s tough to drink much of. Stoli’s not alone here, of course, and Blakberi’s clearly intended for fruity cocktails. There, it shines. With mixers the blackberry flavor comes through far more prominently, imbuing a drink with a more subtle berry flavor than you get with, say, Stoli Blueberi (though I like that flavor very much, too — in fact, it works well with Blakberi as a combo in cocktails).

Stoli Blakberi is pretty versatile, working with all kinds of mixers well. My favorite: A spiked blackberry lemonade (recipe below the bottle shot, scroll on down).

B+ / $20 / stoli.com

Spiked Blackberry Lemonade
4 blackberries
1 1/2 oz. Stoli Blakberi vodka
lemonade

Muddle blackberries in a tall rocks glass, add vodka, and fill with ice. Top up with lemonade and stir.

Omit the blackberries or sub in blueberries, raspberries, or other fruit if you don’t have them. Try adding a splash or two of Stoli Blueberi for a different twist.

With its sun-and-cloud logo and baby blue color scheme, what would you expect from the 80-proof Cirrus Vodka? Something light, summery, perhaps partly cloudy even.

Well you can’t judge a book by its cover nor a vodka by its bottle: Cirrus is serious stuff, heavy duty vodka that, if I didn’t know it was from Virginia, would swear was drawn from the teat of Mother Russia herself.

Crack open the bottle and get a whiff. No need to get up close, Cirrus fills the room with its aroma of medicine and rubbing alcohol promptly. Distilled from potatoes, old-school-like, Cirrus has an Old World structure from start to finish. It’s a little tough to drink straight. Lemon peel is there as is some herbaceousness, maybe flowers. But a moderate bitterness is a little rough on the finish, and the medicinal notes are heavy. It improves, surprisingly, as it warms up.

Fine in cocktails, I found it tough to enjoy straight. It’s also very hard to find, by the way, mainly in cities near Virginia.

B- / $22 / cirrusvodka.com

Another entry into the organic spirits universe, Rain (a product of Kentucky’s Buffalo Trace Distillery) is a widely available vodka that few will have trouble finding on store shelves.

Pull that eye-catching blue stopper from the raindrop-shaped bottle and a sweet, perfumy aroma fills the air. Rain’s odor gave me much promise, but the taste was a bit disappointing. The sweetness is in the flavor, surprisingly heavy with butterscotch, but it’s overpowered by grainy notes, surely a remnant of its basis in white corn, from which the spirit is distilled. The bite is hard: This tastes a lot tougher than 80 proof. But my real complaint is a strange chalkiness in the glass, literally a powdery texture to the vodka that had me wondering if there was something stuck to my tongue.

Works superbly in cocktails (and you can’t beat the price), but it’s not my favorite straight.

B / $16 / rainvodka.com

More proof to my theory that grapes make the best base for vodka arrives in the form of Swan’s Neck Vodka, an artisan spirit from French grapes distilled in copper pots and named for part of the alembic still used to make it.

Swan’s Neck is a very sedate vodka, smooth and silky, offering flavors that hint at white wine: Apple and grape, perfume with flowers. A slight bitterness mars the finish just a tad, unfortunately, but Swan’s Neck offers a taste of the earth, soul-satisfying in a good way, nut musky and stinky in the way that “earthy” often connotes.

In cocktails, Swan’s Neck shines as that bitterness fades away, leaving that apple/grape flavor to work with whatever mixers you add. It should work well in anything, really, but it should shine exceptionally in wine- or fruit-based cocktails.

Swan’s Neck is hard to find (and expensive when it’s found), but if you do, snap it up.

A- / $40 / swansneckvodka.com

It’s easy to see why Grey Goose has become one of the most successful new liquor brands in recent years. This is a fantastic vodka, smooth and lightly sweet, with a nutty nose and aftertaste that works well in cocktails and adds an interesting complexity when served straight.

Grey Goose is very mild, quite neutral on the whole. Maybe a hint of pepper, or citrus fruit, if you search for it. It’s also not too oily, even when ice cold, a common trait of virtually all vodkas.

And yet, for all its heralded luxury status, Grey Goose is not all that expensive. $27 compares well to some similar ultra-luxe brands and it tastes far better. Sure, I’d rather have Tito’s or Boomerang at about $16, but those are boutique bottles that you aren’t likely to find in the average bar. Grey Goose? It’s everywhere, and if you’re calling a vodka brand, this is one that merits the hype that surrounds it.

A / $27 / greygoose.com

Once again, it’s dessert drink time at Drinkhacker. This one’s inspired by the eponymous cookie.

Nilla Wafer
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. white chocolate liqueur (I use Godiva White)
1/2 oz. Navan vanilla liqueur
1/4 oz. Damiana liqueur (a Mexican herbal liqueur)

Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Rim the glass with sugar beforehand if you’re feeling ambitious.

Try adding 1/2 oz. of creme de banana liqueur for an additional twist.

Yeah, you read that right: Vodka, sparkling. The idea of carbonated vodka is either genius or stupid. I mean, you can pour your vodka into a little soda and it’s got plenty of carbonation right there, doesn’t it? Well, maybe you don’t want soda… maybe you just want sparkling vodka. Great idea! I think.

Those looking for a Coke-style fizz will be instantly disappointed in O2. The carbonation here is extremely light, and in a cocktail you’ll likely have trouble picking it out if you don’t already know it’s in there. Even straight, the carbonation is very light. It comes across more as a spicy, peppery note initially. Only after you think and roll it around for a few seconds do you realize it’s not a flavor that’s tickling your mouth but bubbles popping on your tongue.

O2 vodka comes from Britain and is distilled from grain, then filtered three times and bottled at 80 proof. Putting aside the carbonation factor, the flavor is very, very mild, surprising for a grain-based spirit. It’s got a hint of smoke and nuttiness, but otherwise is quite neutral.

O2 works well in cocktails, departing just the faintest amount of bubbling into the beverage. You can watch a couple of columns of bubbles rise up for a few minutes, then they dissipate.

If nothing else, O2 is at least an interesting conversation piece. All the more so if you try one of O2’s recommended cocktails, some of which include caviar and raw fish. (Check them out on the O2 website.) Whoa.

B+ / $33 / sparklingvodka.com

Get ready for this. 3 is the world’s only soybean vodka. And by “soybean vodka” I mean “vodka that’s made from soybeans.” No, really.

If you were to ask me what a soybean vodka might taste like, I’d probably come up with something like this: A meaty spirit with strong overtones of bitter herbal liqueurs — think Jagermeister or Fernet Branca — pungent like a Turkish bazaar. It’s the least-neutral “neutral” spirit I’ve ever tasted.

That isn’t to say it’s terrible. I can’t imagine drinking this straight for long (despite the bold claim on a sticker affixed to the bottle that it’s scored a “Perfect 100 Rating!”), but in certain heavily herbal/bitter drinks — something with Campari or Sambuca, perhaps? — it would probably work well. That said, most people looking for something to toss a splash of tonic into are going to be knocked off their barstools.

C+ / $20 / 3vodka.com

Today I wrapped up two months of filling in as the interim editor-in-chief of Mac|Life magazine. Fun times, and some really good people there (click the thumbnail to see the staff in all its glory).

To celebrate the completion of our June issue and go out with a bang, I created this cocktail specifically for the magazine. May all Apple fiends drink it up with gusto!

The Mac|Life Cocktail
2 oz. Tito’s Handmade Vodka (no substitutes! Tito’s is the official vodka of Mac|Life)
3/4 oz. St. Germain liqueur
1/4 oz. Calvados (or Applejack)
1 dash peach bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an apple slice.

And there you have it. Oh, and if you’re a Windows or Linux guy, I promise you’ll like the concoction as well. Garnish with a peach slice instead if you hate Steve Jobs. (See also: The iPhone Martini.)

Does price matter? Russian Standard offers an “original” version of its vodka in addition to a “Platinum” bottling and its vaunted “Imperia,” which I’ve previously reviewed. All are made in basically the same way, with a few differences, namely in the filtration systems they employ. But Russian Standard “Original” is just $22 a bottle, while Imperia is $34 (though I can find it on sale for $29 right now. Is it worth $12 more? Or even $7?

I put a shot of Imperia side by side with Original Russian Standard, and to tell the truth, any difference was extremely slight. Imperia was a tiny bit smoother, while Original had a stronger tone of wheat to it (or what is commonly referred to as “bread”). The Imperia was faintly sweeter than Original, too.

But on the whole, unless I was drinking these straight and competitively, I’d never be able to tell the difference. Add a mixer, and you can forget about noticing a difference at all.

So there you have it: Russian Standard’s cheapest and priciest vodkas are, for all intents and purposes, pretty much identical.

B+ / $22/ russianstandard.com