Picking up a bottle of 360 Chocolate flavored vodka tonight and will post my thoughts about it later.

Found this vodka for $16.99 on the way home from work and had to try it because of the reviews here. I am not a “drinker” in any stretch of the mind and only had my first real drink of liquor 4 months ago (I am 27 for the record). But because of the reviews here i decided to actually taste the vodka instead of tossing it down my throat like i’ve learned from others. My first vodka shot was ciroc, and i still had a smidge left in the freezer along with smirnoff that was left by my sister before she went back to Germany. (husband is stationed there). So when i got home, i took the bottles and sat them on the table. I then did the unimaginable, i did a taste test with vodka.

Starting with the Ciroc, i took a sip and let it sit in my mouth for a second. I didn’t like it the first time, and i still don’t like it. bitter taste followed by a burning sensation on my tongue, that moves on to my mouth, and even my lip, not pleasant either. Swallowed and after a few seconds felt a very uncomfortable heat going down to my stomach.

The Smirnoff (triple distilled peach Smirnoff) was a bit better. Smoother without the big bitter feeling. REALLY light peach flavor that actually works if you try to taste it (An idea that was crazy a day ago). Swallowed it noticed a small bit of heat, but nothing huge.

Lastly the 360. Took my sip and was surprised that there really was no unpleasant effects involved in it. I did taste a slight flavor in there but it was actually pleasant. right before i swallowed i noticed a tingling building up in my mouth, similar to the Ciroc. But to my surprise it was nothing like the Ciroc burn. While the Ciroc actually burned my lips and mouth as if i had just drank a chemical. This felt a bit more like mouthwash. It didn’t fill my mouth a burning sensation, but with a tingling clean sensation like i just brushed my teeth. Swallowed and there was no noticeable burn to follow.

360 totally gets my vote as an awesome vodka, and from an amateur stance i would suggest anyone new to drinking to make 360 your first vodka taste. Now to try titos.

Also, this is an awesome site and i was wondering if there was an equivalent for rum, gin, tequila, and triple sec? I’m trying to make a good long island but have no idea whats a good mixing drink, or how they should taste in general.

Sorry for any grammatical errors in my message.

In my humble opinion, I was surprised that 360 is clearly smoother than Tito’s, Grey Goose, Kettle One, Level, Sobieski, Skyy, Absolut, and Stolichnaya, but Russian Standard is a close second. I haven’t tried any others neat, but certainly intend to as I only tried the 360 after reading reviews here. I probably would not have tried it for a while because of the corny bottle. I don’t buy vodka for the taste- what taste? If I want taste I’ll drink whiskey, but for smoothness 360 will be very hard to beat.

Wo cares about 360 or titos. UV kicks their butt.

I am absulutely in love with UV its the best alcohole iv ever expierienced thats all i drink. we re uv lovers I just wish they made stuff to go with it like garage uv sighns, bottle uv openers ect.We drink it with red bull its the best drink ever invented!

One of my three favorite American vodkas, along with Tito’s and Dripping Springs. Smooth, even silky texture, quite sweet, no bitterness. The eco-friendly aspect only adds to the charm.

I just did an taste test against Grey Goose. No comparison! 360 is MUCH smoother and better tasting than Grey Goose. Grey Goose tastes as if it were some form of medicine by comparison with 360. Hands down, 360 was much better than Grey Goose! . . . and at 1/2 the price!! I will be intereseted to see how it matches up against Titos??

Great vodka, little pricey. Just something on par to throw into the mix of my daily drinking. Twice a year max to stir things up.

I tried this tonight based on user reviews here, I am giving the remaining to someone else, I thought it was horrible.

This vodka does make a good shooter indeed. I do however have to make a comment with regards to smooth finish it has on the palate. This is mostly attributed to two factors:
1. Four still or higher distillation process
2. Good quality of water used to dilute neutral spirits

Filtration is important but not essential as the number of stills used would do the job of leaving the toxic sub-product oil behind.

Overall, a 360 is, although not the best, a good quality American vodka. I would give it a 3.9 grade on the scale from 1 to 5.

Initial impression when I first opened the bottle is that it smells like rubbing alchohol. Fortunately, drinking it was a much more pleasant surprise. Very neutral and flavorless, it reminded me of Tito’s at least the in-mouth feel. It goes down much better than Tito’s, with a very mild burn and a much better aftertaste unlike Tito’s, which I found harsh and caustic going down the throat and then the feeling and taste in your whole mouth afterwards. This vodka tastes like what Tito’s should have been, IMO, especially after reading all the raving good reviews for Tito’s. Unfortunately, 360 is very hard to find in my area, and the local liquor store where I found it sells it for more than the listed average price on this website, about $28.

I finally had a chance to pick up a bottle of 360, and I made a martini with it tonight. Overall, it reminded me of Tito’s. It had a very neutral flavor, was very smooth, and had very little bite. I was looking for the slight sweetness that has been mentioned on this forum, and as I’ve enjoyed in Crystal Head martinis, but it was simply neutral like Tito’s. I am hard pressed at this time to rate one above the other, so I will call it a tie. However, in the context of comparing both of these to Russian Standard, at least with regard to the quality of the martinis that they make, I would like to change my assessment and promote Russian Standard just above Tito’s, and now 360, in my ranking of vodka martinis. Perhaps, as a straight shot, both Tito’s and 360 would be the better and smoother bet, but that is not how I generally drink vodka. To update my complete rankings list of my favorite vodkas in terms of how well they work in a straight up vodka martini with olives, here is what I have put together:

1) Crystal Head [5 stars] 2) Russian Standard [4 stars] 3) 360 [4 stars] (tie) 3) Tito’s Handmade [4 stars] (tie) 5) Ketel One [4 stars] 6) Sobieski [4 stars] 7) Stolichnaya [3 stars] 8) Skyy [3 stars] 9) Belvedere [3 stars] 10) Grey Goose [3 stars] 11) Absolut [2 stars]

In terms of smoothness, the top vodkas are Crystal Head, 360 and Tito’s Handmade tied, then Ketel One. In terms of pleasant flavor, the front runners are Crystal Head, Russian Standard, Sobieski*, Stolichnaya, and then Grey Goose.

Putting smoothness and flavor in the context of value (price), I would place the top few in the following order: Sobieski, Tito’s Handmade, then Russian Standard.

Since I have not tasted most of these vodkas neat, I can not properly rank them, though I would expect the top few to be Crystal Head, 360 and Tito’s Handmade.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, at this point in my vodka martini tasting experience, I would probably be inclined to stock Russian Standard in my freezer, order Crystal Head at a bar (if available), and order Ketel One as my readily available bar vodka. 360 and Tito’s may find their way into my freezer again, too, in order to have some variety.

Cheers

Not happy with lucus liquor in Kansas City. They are still promoting your rebate and I find out it was over Dec. of 2009. Is this true?

great vodka, got it 19$ with a 10$ rebate,wow what a value

As a side note about the rebate, after asking my local liquor store to get some 360 they stocked four fifths of it on the shelf, all of them have the tag for the rebate right on the bottle but it seems there is a limit of two rebates per household.

Having finally got my hands on a bottle I have to say 360 is going in with Tito’s for my favorite vodkas category. That subtle sweetness makes for an absolutely excellent white russian.

incredibly smooth. this is now my favorite also.

I grabbed a bottle of 360 yesterday, and I am very impressed with the quality of this vodka for the price. For a 1.75 liter it only costs 40 dollars, and for a vodka that is this smooth that is a good deal.

I must say being mainly a whiskey drinker, it seems like it is lacking something on the front end. However it goes down like butter, so I am not complaining. Very good stuff, I must say I wouldn’t have grabbed it if I didn’t read all the good reviews on this website before going to the store…

I agree to the tee! 360 vodka is my current favorite also. It’s way too smooth and refreshing to compare to any other out there. American vodka is the best and here is why. The laws state on what cannot be added and must be stated what if anything was legally added. Unlike the imports where glycerin, citric acid, sugar, etc. are all too many times the recipe to make their vodkas “creamy and sweet”.
American made vodkas is all I drink now. I’ve reviewed 40 or so different vodkas from all over the world. 360 is the winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryan, the original plan was to have photos for all the vodkas. However, I couldn’t find a set up where I could take good photos of the bottles. So, I gave up on it for now. I had kept all the review bottles until recently in case I found a good way to shoot them, but that’s out the door now. Eventually, I’ll photograph them all.

360 was kind enough to give me permission to use their product photos.