Peanut Butter & Jelly Vodka

In booze-related news, Van Gogh once took the peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of the lunchbox and put it in a vodka bottle. Peanut Butter & Jelly Vodka combined peanut butter flavor with raspberry jelly. Somebody looked at a sandwich and decided the missing ingredient was an age restriction.

The original Incredible Things story greeted the idea with an entirely reasonable question: should you chase it with milk or two slices of white bread cut into triangles? The bread remains entirely optional. This was an alcoholic novelty for adults, despite the familiar snack inspiration and our original after-school joke.

A Sandwich Flavor With a Launch Date

The product belongs to the flavored vodka adventures of 2012. A March 2 launch announcement said PB&J would debut at the end of that month. It named Van Gogh’s master distiller, Tim Vos, as the person who selected raspberry after trying peanut butter sandwiches with different jellies.

Raspberry matters here. The label might send your imagination toward whichever jelly lived in your childhood refrigerator, but the brand’s stated combination was specific. Translating a familiar food into a spirit already asks your brain to do some work. At least the jelly choice was settled before the bottle arrived.

What the Brand Said It Tasted Like

The announcement described a peanut-led aroma with raspberry alongside it, then a stronger raspberry impression on the palate and a little vanilla. Those are the maker’s tasting descriptions, rather than our own sampling notes. No sandwich was blended in the Incredible Things kitchen to verify the effect. Probably for the best.

The idea is amusing because it swaps texture for flavor. A sandwich has bread, sticky filling, and the possibility of jelly escaping onto your sleeve. A clear spirit has none of that visual information. You recognize the reference through the name and the promised flavors, while your eyes see something else entirely.

A Later Review Adds Context

In its June 2014 issue, Wine Enthusiast reviewed Van Gogh PB&J, awarding it 93 points. The entry listed a 750 milliliter bottle at 35 percent alcohol by volume and a price of $27. Those are details from that dated review, not a current shop listing or offer.

Reviewer Kara Newman described a sweet, peanut-dominated palate and perceived grape on the finish. That observation does not change the raspberry flavor named in the launch announcement; it records one reviewer’s sensory impression. Keeping those descriptions separate is more useful than pretending every taster must find exactly the same sandwich inside.

Keep the Nostalgia, Check the Bottle

As a novelty, though, the pitch needs very little explanation. Peanut butter. Jelly. Vodka. Should the garnish be triangular toast? Do you need a plate? Finally, a sandwich concept with more questions than crumbs.