A bit ago I saw someone talking about the newest sweet tea vodka out there – Sweet Carolina.

I was born and raised on sweet tea.? While sweet tea isn’t necessarily a northern WV thing, it is a southwestern VA thing, and my mom was from south WV, so she taught me the “proper” way to make sweet tea.? It usually ended up as what was described by one friend of mine in high school as “tea flavored sugar sludge”.

When I first got the Firefly sweet tea vodka I’d been really surprised – to me, it tasted like sweet tea and it tasted good. Scarily good, in fact, even at “only” 70 proof.

Joe over at Ace hadn’t tried the Sweet Carolina yet but he pointed out that it was a good bit cheaper than the Firefly.? I figured what the heck, and despite the fact that I had two full fifths of Firely, bought a bottle of it.? It was less than $20 and more than $15 (and I can’t remember the exact price) if I remember correctly.

I thought the bottle had a better presentation to it but when I looked at the label I had a worry.? It’s labeled as being bottled and produced in Maine – not a state known for its sweet tea.

I cracked open the Sweet Carolina and took a whiff of it.? It wasn’t bad, not great, but not bad.? I switched over to the Firefly and wow, that had a much stronger nose and one that smelled much more of sweet tea.? I went back to the Sweet Carolina and couldn’t really get any nose from it anymore.

Uh oh.

It was time to pour some vodka.

I got out two shot glasses and poured them.? I sniffed both of them carefully – same reaction – and then started my taste testing.

As you can see, I had the two shot glasses of sweet tea vodka, a note pad – for notes, natch – a spit cup and a big glass of water.? I wanted to try to do it correctly.

At first I just took a small taste, rolled it around in my mouth, then spit it out.? I’d rinse my mouth with water thoroughly between tastes.? I started with the Sweet Carolina as I was already familiar with the Firefly.

The Sweet Carolina was acrid and had a very artificial taste after spitting it out.? When I swallowed it this was followed up with a pronounced alcohol burn.? Not good in any way, shape, or form.

With the Firefly, tasting it and spitting it out let me taste the tea and sweetness along with the burn even upon spitting.? When drinking it straight it tasted a lot like sweet tea, with some clear tea complexities to it, but none of the acrid or artificial tastes that the Sweet Carolina had despite the alcohol burn.

I watered both down (about half and half with tap water) and the the acrid, artificial taste – I feel like I’m flogging a theme here but it’s true – on the Sweet Carolina still stuck around.? I imagine that thoroughly mixing it with, say, lemonade might cover it up but at that point I’d have to ask “why?”

The Firefly, on the other hand, got even more delicious with watering down, getting rid of the burn while still maintaining the sweet tea taste and developing what I might have been imagining but I regularly taste as a slight lemon edge.

Even with the price differential I can not in any way, shape, or form recommend the Sweet Carolina.? I’m debating right now just dumping it out.

I had been assured by a reliable party that the two bottles of apple goodness you see to the left – Laird’s Applejack and Captain Apple Jack – are, in fact, the same thing, both 100 proof bottled in bond applejack from Laird’s, just one relabeled for the Virginia and North Carolina markets.

I went through my last bottle of the Laird’s Applejack last weekend when making my Apple Cider Heavens, so while I was at Ace today I picked up a bottle of Laird’s bottled in bond.? Joe assured me that it was different and that I’d like it a whole lot more.? Indeed, the bottle was different.

As you can see on the far right in the picture, it’s definitely a different looking bottle.? On the far left is a bottle of the Laird’s 7 1/2 year old apple brandy, and the middle is the standard Captain Apple Jack, listed as bottled by the Virginia Fruit Brandy Distilling Corporation that also had an address in New Jersey (Laird’s is based out of New Jersey and North Garden, Virginia, just outside Charlottesville).

I cracked and sniffed and couldn’t tell anything.

So it was time to pour.

Even with a flash and a close up it was hard to tell any significant difference in color.? The 7.5 year old had the most difference in any category, but that’s also perhaps because it’s only 80 proof and the other two were both 100 proof.? (One note: the shot glass with the 7.5 year old brandy, on the left, is a bit blue-ish, while the other two are clear.)

I tasted and sniffed the Captain Apple Jack and the Laird’s Bottled in Bond and I just have to say: I couldn’t tell a difference in any way.

So, what was my conclusion?? Laird’s Applejack, Captain Apple Jack, and the Laird’s Bottled in Bond 100 proof apple brandy all appear to me – with the caveat that I’d tasted those sweet tea vodkas earlier – to be nearly if not exactly the same product.

If anyone out there has any proof to that, or proof against it, I’d love to hear about it.