VODKA: fermented potatoes, water, and Russian elbow grease.

Normally a spirit reserved for citrus-infused cocktails to mask its ethanol taste. Does anyone really love sipping vodka? Not usually, but that will change after you taste-test these four exceptional bottles.

1. Chopin Potato Vodka ($34)
Creamy, full-bodied, and a pageant winner, Chopin is a favorite among those who savor the aroma in their glass before even taking a sip. It’s not often that a vodka feels this sophisticated, a drink you should be sipping neat, like a fine scotch. College girls mix average vodka with cranberry juice and party their clothes off. A different animal completely, Chopin Potato Vodka will have you rethinking this clear liquid. Martini, anyone? chopinvodka.com

2. Fog Point by Hangar 1 ($129)
The name sounds German, but this upscale spirit company is based in California and prides itself on making the best vodka from the state’s natural goodness. Fog Point is their super-California label where they blend Bay Area fog-turned-water with vodka crafted from the distilled wine of Napa Valley’s Pine Ridge chenin blanc and viognier. The result? A fruity, crisp sipping vodka that will blow your mind. hangarone.com

3. Reyka vodka ($23)
This Icelandic vodka is a true piece of the frosty region. Bottles start with glacial springwater that runs through an ancient lava field, and its barley and wheat is distilled in a rare, high-copper Carter-Head still, resulting in an unbeatably smooth taste. It’s handcrafted in small batches by local pros proud that their “green” distillery is powered by geothermal energy. This wonderfully pure vodka is like the bacon that turns vegans into carnivores. reyka.com

4. Aylesbury Duck Vodka ($25)
Flavorful and medium-dry, this New York-based vodka is a lightbodied mouth of delicious with notes of pepper, rhubarb, and a bracing finish. Impressively distilled, with the product moving through three separate copper-plated column stills from the 1940s, Aylesbury’s taste is golden good and you can’t beat the price. Plus, its branding is spot-on: two sketched half-men wrestling one another. aylesburyduckvodka.com