Hi malu vodka would work, but I better stick with the vinegar :-) And, no doubt any critters would not stick around the garden if you applied this stuff. In fact maybe that would be a good use for the pulp that's left over when you strain it after it's "brewed". You could scatter that around the garden and maybe that would repel bunnies and stuff.

One thing about the organic, raw vinegar, I think it gets ahold of this stuff and ferments it, so it changes, maybe that would be different than using alcohol, which would just preserve it.