1. Because it represents one of the first entries into what is apparently the new flavor trend of the summer:  cocktails based on the flavor of sweetened iced black tea.  This one has already gone so far as to add in a mild but pleasant taste of peach, adding an edge.
2. Because it is not actually a (reprehensible) pre-mixed cocktail, but rather an actual flavored vodka that breaks the rules of flavored vodkas.  It is not sickeningly chemical-tasting, it is not made from the cheapest vodka available, and it does not slaughter you with headaches halfway through the evening.
3. Because you can actually drink it mixed only with soda water and enjoy it, rather than having to drown it in three other flavors to make some form of exotic martini that will only embarrass you when you’re forced to explain what it is.  At most, adding a twig of mint and a slice of lemon will generate a fully-fledged Iced Tea Flavor Experience.
4. Because it is a full-strength vodka that comes with a balanced flavor, your value per serving is actually excellent.  This is a drink you could sip like a scotch and enjoy over the course of an evening, a shared novelty among a group of increasingly mellow people.
5. Because it takes only three servings of Hound Dog Peach Sweet Tea Vodka to wash away the bitter, sickening rage of having filmed an entire segment singing its praises that was ENTIRELY OUT OF FOCUS THE WHOLE TIME after promising everyone –including your absent, forgiving fiancee — that you’d have it done.

Hey, at least you can enjoy my BOOKS.

But mostly because it’s a great deal on a product that seems to have gotten it just right — the balance of flavor, the quality of the liquor, and the timing of a trend.  And if it just happens to now be my preferred beverage for sipping on after suffering a total, agonizing and wholly self-inflicted defeat, why… that’s just all the more appropriately Southern, isn’t it?

Mike Week shall rise again, people!  We’re not even halfway done, yet.