Reyka
Vodka Review
By
George Brozowski
Iceland seems to be a land
of contradictions. You would just have to figure that any place
named after ice would be pretty darned cold but it turns out
that even though it is at the edge of the Arctic circle it is
warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate. Even
though the whole country only has a population of 320,000 people,
in 2007 the United Nations ranked it as the most developed country
in the world. Those few people must all be very, very busy.
Iceland has given us such words as geyser and berserk and of
course their most famous export up to this point has been Bjork.
So what's up with this geography lesson? Well, I recently came
into possession of a bottle of Reyka Vodka from Iceland and
it piqued my curiosity. The bottle is a very pale ice blue and
has the words ICELAND raised in glass around
the base of the long slim neck appearing like they were carved
out of ice. Reyka is taken from the Icelandic word for "steam"
and now I know 4 Icelandic words.
Reyka
is Iceland's first and only vodka distillery and the only one
in the world whose rare Carter Head is powered by geothermal
heat (steam!). The water they use to distill the wheat and barley
comes from the nearby Grabok Spring and the distillate is filtered
through 4,000 year old lava field rocks instead of the more
traditional charcoal. The resulting liquor is so pure, according
to Wikipedia, that its level of dissolved solids is less than
1/15 that of Evian bottled water. The words "small batch"
on the bottle refer to the 235 cases produced per distillation.
As they say in their commercial this is a vodka flavored vodka
because if you want the flavor of banana, eat a banana. Great
vodka by its very nature should have no color, no odor and no
flavor. Achieving that ever elusive nothingness is quite a formidable
task since the grains used might impart some flavor as could
the water and the filtration. That being said here is my description
of their magnificent nothingness.
The Nose: is very, very subtle and even when
freshly poured does not step forward with much ethanol at all.
The alcohol dissipates quickly leaving almost no nose at all.
What remains is sublimely subtle, fresh and clean with the barest
hint of an organic sweetness as though stirred up by a slight
breeze wafting over a verdant meadow in the early morning or
the barely there scent of spring water gently flowing over rocks
and through shallow sunny pools. OMG, I can't believe I just
wrote that flowery crap.
The Palate: Ok, Ok back to reality, time for
a taste. As it sits in my mouth it feels warm and creamy with
a vague nod toward vanilla.
The Finish: Swallowing it activates the spiciness
and pepper in my mouth right down into my throat but this is
far more pleasant than painful. The finish is soothingly spicy,
clean and pleasant.
The Hangover: This hangover, unlike most vodka
hangovers, was not accompanied by the usual pounding headaches
and churning stomach. There was a fair amount of spinning and
heavy headedness but the goose stepping monkeys were wearing
clean boots for a change. Also the feeling of just wanting to
die was far less aggressive than usual and I pleasantly settled
into just wanting to harm myself to distract me from the malaise.
At $25-$35 this vodka can hold its own against vodkas costing
30%-50% more and could easily become my favorite with its favorable
price point.
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