For some reason, Oct. 4 is National Vodka Day. Let’s take a look at all things vodka, shall we?

Distilled

Too many vodka brands boast how many times they’re distilled. Don’t fall for this. The more times a vodka is distilled, the more of the flavors–as minimal as they are in vodka–are stripped away, leaving you closer and closer to pure alcohol. Three-times distilled is plenty.

Best place to enjoy vodka

I highly recommend visiting the vodka vault inside Red Square Restaurant at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. It’s basically bottle service inside a sub-zero-degree room, and you and up to 14 friends wear fur coats while enjoying your vodka (more than 360 from which to choose).

Vodka flavors

It’s amazing how many flavored vodkas exist. Take a look at this sample:

Some are super weird, like Three Olives’ Loopy, which tastes like Froot Loops cereal.

Gimmicks

Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Head Vodka comes in a bottle shaped like–you guessed it–a crystal skull. You also can get vodka made with jewels–check out Diamond Standard Vodka, which is filtrated with DeBeers diamonds.

Perhaps the most bizarre is G. Vodka, which is poured over the naked breasts of a former Playboy Playmate and then bottled up. See for yourself in this video (warning, NSFW!).

Martinis

Of course, in a blog post about vodka, I have to talk about martinis. I’m not a fan of vermouth, which I feel overpowers the main ingredient (gin or vodka) of the martini. Apparently, Winston Churchill felt the same way, saying “I would like to observe the vermouth from across the room while I drink my martini.”

One way around this is by ordering your martini “dry” (meaning less vermouth). Another is by swirling your martini glass with vermouth, then dumping it out. However, I prefer Alton Brown’s method of adding vermouth to a shaker full of ice, shaking, then straining out the vermouth before adding the vodka or gin.

I’m also not a fan of olives, so I take my vodka martinis with a lemon twist. Other types include dirty (with olive juice), a gibson (with a pearl onion) or on the rocks (which I don’t consider a real martini).

Did you know you can support our veterans by purchasing … alcohol?

The folks behind this unique concept known as Salute American invited me to try their vodka, which was made available in Wisconsin last month. For every 750 ml bottle that’s purchased, $1 is donated to approved veterans’ charities.

One of those charities is Work Vessels for Veterans, which helps veterans start a business or complete career education. Since Salute American’s 2011 launch, more than $60,000 has been donated to veterans’ charities, according to a release.

“Salute American is more than a name–it’s our mission,” Better Brands Beverage Co. CEO Pete Kelly, the creator of Salute American, said in a statement. “We prove our patriotism by giving back to U.S. veterans who have proudly served their country.”

You can definitely tell the quality of the vodka, which I enjoyed both neat and in a martini. It has little aftertaste and no bite, the result of being four-times distilled. I’m not surprised Salute American received an 87-point rating from the Beverage Testing Institute in the category of “Best Value Vodka $20 and under.”

Of course, a vodka that supports Americans needs to look and act the part. Salute American has a red, white and blue color scheme; its corn and wheat are sourced from Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa; the vodka is distilled in New York; and the bottle is shaped like a canteen.

Salute American can be purchased at Steve’s Liquor in Madison and both Le Cork and Trollway Liquor in Mount Horeb.