Crystal Head vodka has been around for awhile now. It’s hard not to notice a vodka with a spokesperson like Dan Akroyd, let alone a vodka with a back story like Romancing the Stone. Furthermore, the beautiful bottle design is probably as unique as it gets. With a good review from an alpha geek like John Hodgman, I had to give it a try despite the lofty price tag.

So, in honor of Daniel’s birthday, I’ll share my thoughts.

The Shot

Crystal Head vodka has an ethanoly-sweet smell. It’s completely clean and neutral in the mouth and it goes down like water with only a slight cooling burn, as though I had just used flavorless mouthwash. The swallow is followed by an oddly sweet aftertaste. Crystal Head vodka is worth every penny and takes a high ranking spot with Jean Marc XO.

The Mixed Drink

Be picky with your mixer! On a whim, I tried Simply Lemonade. The flavor of the vodka comes through and makes the mix taste pretty bad. That might just be an attribute of lemonade, though. I tried several other multi-fruit juices as mixers that are of the sweet variety that turned out to be wonderful because the vodka was undetectable.

Opinions

When Erin took a shot, she mentioned that the ethanol flavor was minimal and there was only a little burn after Crystal Head vodka goes down. In her own words, “That’s probably as close to flavorless as I’ve ever had. Good job, Dan Akroyd.” She was doubly impressed when she mixed the vodka with some of the fruit juices, noting that the vodka didn’t change the taste of the juice at all.

If you have some cash burning a hole in your pocket, or you want to celebrate a special evening with a unique spirit, Crystal Head is a must-try. In fact, the only down side is the price. I’m sure someone like Dan Akroyd wouldn’t think twice about dropping a $50 on a bottle of alcohol, but it’s a little too expensive for a normal guy like me to indulge in on a regular basis. If this were priced to compete with normal upper-shelf vodkas, this would certainly set a new high water mark in the vodka industry.

Update 6/24/2010: As Jason pointed out below, empty Crystal Head bottles are selling for around $25 on eBay. So, you can potentially recoup some of your costs if you put the bottle up for sale on eBay. Good looking out, Jason.