Three Olive vodka was launched in 1998 in celebration of the martini so famously garnished with olives. (Purists will quibble that proper martinis are made with gin and there is no such thing as a “vodka martini”–we will not quibble.) It is made from English wheat in a “quadruple” distillation process.

Three Olives Tartz vodka–in the continuing and accelerating trend of “shock vodka”–have somehow flavored their vodka with the taste of tart candy familiar to kids who sucked them down out of tubes of bright colored wrappers.

The Three Olives brand is owned and managed by Proximo Spirits, which acquired it from White Rock Distilleries in May, 2010. While the vodka is listed as imported from England, the White Rock is in the US and the Three Olives filing is with LDI in Indiana. It’s quite possible the vodka is made in bulk in England and then bottled in the US. Pending better information, we’ve opted to list this as a US product.