The bottle:Oak by Absolut, $25

The back story: It seems the vodka makers of the world never fail to run out of flavor ideas. Pumpkin spice-flavored vodka? Check. Sriracha-flavored vodka? Check. But this latest from Absolut, the Swedish brand owned by French spirits giant Pernod Ricard, may take the prize for sheer ingenuity. Or sheer craziness.

It’s essentially bourbon-flavored vodka.

Well, technically, it’s oak-flavored vodka. And more technically, it’s not a flavored vodka—rather, it’s a vodka that’s been aged in oak barrels (not unlike a bourbon—or a Scotch, for that matter), which allows it to pick up that telltale oaky flavor. “We call it resting,” says Joao Rozario, who heads Pernod’s marketing effort in the U.S. for Absolut, of the short-term (six months or so) aging process for the vodka. (To be clear, bourbons are aged for longer periods—two years or more.)

Weekend Sip: Oak, Absolut's bourbon-flavored vodka

But what would inspire a major vodka brand to think in terms of bourbon? Though Absolut remains a giant in the industry, it’s clearly facing challenges, as spirits drinkers in the U.S. turn increasingly from vodka to whiskey (and, in particular, to bourbon). From 2010 to 2014, the brand saw U.S. sales (based on distributor tallies) dive 10.7% to roughly 4.1 million nine-liter cases, according to Shanken’s Impact Databank Review and Forecast.

The result has been a new emphasis on innovation. Not only has the brand recently launched Oak in select markets, it’s also redoing Absolut’s bottle design. “That’s coming in late 2015,” says Rozario.

What we think about it: It’s hard to think of a sip that has confused our taste buds more than Oak by Absolut. It’s certainly not a traditional vodka—or even a traditional flavored vodka. But it’s far from a bourbon. Instead, it delivers a kind of mild bourbon flavor, with notes of smoke and vanilla, in a vodka-like 80-proof alcohol-delivery system. Serious whiskey drinkers will miss the weight and fire you associate with, well, whiskey. But something tells us this sip isn’t targeted for them. If anything, Oak by Absolut serves two purposes: First, it allows non-whiskey drinkers an opportunity to get into the game without feeling the burn, so to speak, that comes with tasting true whiskey. And second, it can work in cocktails as a way to impart whiskey (or, at the very least, oaky) flavor without having to go heavy on the actual whiskey. The bottom line: While don’t love Oak, we see great potential for it.

How to enjoy it: Just as we indicated, this is a sip very much made for cocktails. Pernod’s Absolut team suggests pairing it with Coca-Cola—they call it an “Oak ‘n’ Coke”—or using it in a Moscow Mule. But they also say it’s worth trying Oak on its own—at least once—just to experience this very different take on vodka.