| Premium Imported Vodka | | | | By: Ron Kapon |  Page 1 of 3 next >> |
In the summer of 2002 forty members of the Greater New York Chapter of Tasters Guild International tasted and evaluated 13 premium vodkas. Our speaker for that tasting was educator and author Harriet Lembeck. Since that tasting the premium imported vodka category has exploded with growth. There are new brands appearing seemingly every week. To update this tasting I changed the rules slightly; I still had 13 vodkas but only plain, no flavors and all were imports. Eleven new ones plus two from the 2002 tasting (the winner and last place finisher). For the previous tasting the vodkas were served open so everyone knew what they were tasting. This time the tasting was done singly blind. That is, the vodkas were listed but none except me knew which was which. I did not participate in the tasting or voting. The 30 tasters were all professed vodka drinkers (the first event was a mixture of vodka and wine drinkers) and several told me they could pick out the vodka they always drank. The products were served neat with water on the side and Bremner Wafers to cleanse the palate. They were asked to evaluate each vodka at least twice, neat and mixed with water, and had the option of a retest, if needed. I explained the derivation of each product, that is; wheat or rye based and in one example of each, corn and wine grape based. The tasting notes which follow the rankings are a summary and duplicate comments were eliminated. Any contrasting opinions have been summarized. Each taster was asked to rank the vodkas from their favorite to least.
To make everything equal, I then took the 10 vodkas from our summer of 2002 evaluation (having already pulled out the first and last place finisher and dropping the one domestic vodka that had been included) and added them to another round of blind tasting, plus the 13 new vodkas. Because of palate fatigue, I spread the tasting over a two day period with 10 new and 5 past participants.
The votes were weighted from 10 points (number 1) to 0 points (numbers 11, 12 and 13). When the vote total was within 2 points, I declared a tie for that position. New York City prices for 750ml sizes are listed and a generous markup is used. Most stores charge less.
According to Grossman’s Guide to Wines, Beers & Spirits, revised by Harriet Lembeck, the word vodka is a diminutive of the Russian word for “little water," voda.
Vodka came to be a huge part of the Russian culture, as it was being distilled even before the word vodka came into general use. Polish historians claim that vodka was first produced in 1405 and they say it reached Russia from Poland. Vodka can be made from potatoes or various cereal grains that contain starch, principally corn, rye and wheat. But it can also be made from fruits and vegetables.
The US government officially describes vodka as “a neutral spirit, so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal and other materials as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color.” This tasting proved vodka’s range of aroma, texture and flavor. The US government was correct on one point though, vodka does not have any color. Today, vodka is the largest category of distilled spirits, selling one out of every four bottles of liquor sold in the US.
Tasting Vodka: While many prefer to drink their vodka ice cold, for tasting purposes it is best to pour it into a glass at room temperature. Cold tends to dampen the aroma and deaden the taste buds. Mix the sample with an equal amount of water. First: Look at the liquid; it should be clear and bright with no cloudiness. Second: Smell or “nose” the vodka by swirling it in the glass. Watch out for sharp, pungent odors or a perfumed smell. Third: Take a small sip and roll it around your tongue. Look for a pleasant flavor. Fourth: Draw a little air over the vodka to release its flavors then swallow it and evaluate the finish. Fifth: Vodka should look pure, smooth on the tongue, with no bite, pleasant but not overpowering, no off-aroma or flavor and little aftertaste.
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