DISCLOSURE: It is Cocktails, 365′s policy that it always disclose when we receive samples of liquor to review for the Website. As we tell those who offer samples: we will accept the liquor for review, but that does not guarantee a positive review. Listed below are the opinions of Cocktails, 365 and no one else. And always, thanks and drink up!

Açaí, much like BeeGees in the late 1970s disco scene, is overplayed.

TOPICAL!

The folks at Van Gogh were nice enough to send along two of their more popular flavors for us to review for Cocktails, 365. First up on the block is their Açaí-Blueberry – probably the most predictable of the flavors. It piggy-backed on the trendiness of the açaí trend, but our hopes is that because everything else Van Gogh is just absolutely outstanding that this will defy our expectations.

Açaí-Blueberry Vodka

Nose: Smells like fruit chews. Specifically, it smells like those old Scooby-Doo fruit snacks that we used to devour en-masse in the mid-90s. Sweeter smell than some other Van Gogh’s we’ve had in the past.

Cons: It looks like grape kool-aid. Pros: IT LOOKS LIKE GRAPE KOOL-AID!

Neat: Açaí right up front with a blueberry finish. Somewhat of an unpleasant, cough-syrup like aftertaste, which is unfortunate. Not as sweet as I was afraid it was going to be, and that works in its favor.

On the Rocks: Some of that funky aftertaste is gone, which makes it more promising. It’s an overwhelmingly cloying flavor, which is encouraging as most açaí (and even blueberry) spirits and liqueurs we’ve sampled tasted like they’ve been siphoned out of a dead clown’s ass. Thankfully, this is actually pleasant over ice. Looking forward to mixing with it!

Verdict: A very pleasant açaí-blueberry vodka, actually. While it doesn’t perhaps stand as well neat as we may like, it tempers nicely with ice. We’ll mix up some cocktails with it the next two days to see how well it behaves with others.