Let’s make no mistake. Trump vodka explicitly capitalizes on the Trump name. Yes, I mean Donald Trump. Drinks Americas, the importer of Trump, has a pretty clear record of taking advantage of celebrity names to market their product. Take an unknown vodka and slap a name like Trump or Dr. Dre on it, and you have the makings of a pretty good success. One look at the gold laden bottle and it’s clear what consumers are supposed to think about Trump: this is an upper echelon vodka.

Despite the often mocked tag line, “The World’s Finest Super Premium Vodka,” it’s important to let vodkas stand on their own.

The Shot

Trump is the most bizarre tasting vodka I’ve ever tasted. I can’t pinpoint the flavor, but my taste buds unfortunately associate the flavor with the smell of paint. While I’m quite attracted to the odd taste of a Dew Driver, I personally don’t get the flavor. The feel of the vodka in my mouth is otherwise clean. There’s no discernible burn after swallowing. If not for the odd taste sticking around, I wouldn’t want a chaser. While I don’t think a chaser is really necessary, dealing with the flavor is helpful.

The Mixed Drink

I mixed Trump Vodka with Welch’s Passion Fruit juice and some form of Crystal Light on separate occasions. Unfortunately, I was unable to test their signature cocktails, some of which have interesting names like “Skinny Bitch” that I wouldn’t mind ordering at a bar just to see the look on the bartender’s face. Trump isn’t a bad mixer. If the mixer is strong enough alone, as with passion fruit juice, the odd flavor of the vodka shines through just enough to bring something new and interesting to the table. If the mixer is fairly mild, like the random flavor of Crystal Light, the flavor overrides the mixer and makes for a bad cocktail. Trump’s strong suit is obviously in the cocktail, especially given the number of signature cocktails. If you’re going with Trump, go with a cocktail, and do it at the most up-scale bar or club you can get into.

Opinions

Daniel and Miles both tried a shot of Trump with me. Daniel said it wasn’t bad on the way down, but the after taste was pretty bad. He was definitely interested in a chaser. Miles said it was smooth, but it had a definite rubbing alcohol flavor to it. Both agreed it wasn’t the best shooter.

If you’re looking for something to one-up the classic ritzy vodka, Grey Goose, Trump may be just the vodka to do it. In the perceived luxury category of vodkas, I would personally pick Grey Goose over Trump. You may find that it is worth trying as a slightly more modern entry in the field. If you want something uniquely different, and ultimately more satisfying, grab a bottle of one of the 40% alcohol by volume flavored Trump variants, which will be reviewed here in the coming weeks.