It pairs especially well with tangy and meaty dishes like BBQ short ribs, roasted game and bacon-wrapped anything, but is versatile enough to be a cocktail mixer. "This is the best batch we've made to date," admits pie-lover and co-founder of Modern Spirits, Melkon Khosrovian, who began creating specialty vodkas five years ago for his wife Litty to sip during Armenian family dinners. She let us in on this little secret: "We put every pie-related ingredient into the vodka except cream and crust."

Nobody at Modern Spirits' California-based vodka lab is revealing what's in their latest batch. Why? Because the ingredients of the Pumpkin Pie Artisan Vodka, like many homemade P.P. recipes, are top secret. Sure, it has pumpkin puree in it, but what makes it taste so much like nostalgic holiday dinners? Clove? Orange? Make no mistake, this low-sugar vodka is no nancy post-tryptophan liqueur—it's a robust drink specifically crafted to be sipped during dinner.