After tasting Tito's Vodka at a party, I couldn't wait to buy a bottle. Hard liquor is not my thing, but it's good to have vodka around for the occasional martini or shot with caviar. So it was gratifying to discover that Tito Beveridge, who micro-distills the vodka at his Mockingbird Distillery in Austin, Texas, had set out to make a martini vodka that women would like.

Beveridge, a geophysicist, experimented to come up with an ultra-refined elixir that is mellow, elegant, and lingers at the finish. It makes the smoothest of martinis and goes down easy straight up from the freezer. It has been beating other premium vodkas in taste tests.

What's the secret? Tito's is handmade from corn in small batches in an old-fashioned pot still, like French Cognacs and fine single-malt Scotches.

It's available at Austin Grill restaurants in Maryland and Virginia and the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown restaurant and lounge. It's about $22 a liter at Pearson's Liquors (2436 Wisconsin Ave., NW; 202-333-6666).