Yes, Lay's Potato Vodka Now Exists
Food brands are all about the crossovers these days, and it's particularly big in the booze world. Over the past few years we've had a Cadbury Creme Egg-flavored stout, a beer made to taste like Christmas tree cakes of the Little Debbie variety (although the Little Debbie people weren't actually involved, so this one counts as more of a knockoff), a bacon-flavored beer from Waffle House (still waiting on that waffle beer), and two Oktoberfest beers made with Snyder's pretzels.
Vodka, too, has gotten in on the act, courtesy of a recent collaboration with Arby's. By all accounts (well, at least this Bro Bible review and this one from Uproxx) their French fry vodkas weren't half bad, and they made for a pretty decent bloody Mary. Well, move over Arby's fries, there's a new vodka collab in town –- this one's with Lay's, the potato chip people. Like the Arby's vodka (via Inspire Stories), the Lay's version is distilled from potatoes. Unlike the French fry-flavored vodkas, however, Lay's skips the infusion and tasting notes of grease and salt to produce a more grown-up adult beverage meant to appeal to the serious vodka connoisseur.
Lay's new vodka isn't potato chip-flavored
While the earliest vodkas were not, in fact, potato-based (potatoes weren't available in Europe until the 16th century), potato vodkas do date back as far as the 18th century (via Alcademics). Today they are pretty much a niche product, with most widely available vodkas at all price points being grain-based. Taste of Home does say, though, that Poland, Sweden, and Idaho (go figure!) are among the places still producing vodka from potatoes today. Oregon, too, as that is the location of Lay's new vodka-producing partner, Eastside Distilling.
As per a press release received by Mashed, Lay's vodka is made by blending Eastside's Portland Potato Vodka with vodka made from Lay's very own "proprietary potatoes." It is –- or rather, was — available from Eastside's website for the price of $40. Just like the Arby's vodka, however (via Restaurant Business), it seems that Lay's version also sold out within hours of its release. No word on when (or if) they'll have a new batch ready (it takes time for those proprietary potatoes to grow, you know), but in the meantime they suggest you grab one of Eastside's other products. And, of course, a big bag of Lay's chips.