By
George Brozowski
It's
always something and then there's more. Several weeks ago
I was informed that I would be receiving a bottle of Crav
Vodka to review and I looked forward to that delivery.
Several days after that notice I was then informed that the
vodka could not be shipped intra-state within Ohio from Cleveland
to Cincinnati. HUH? Being the curious type I started to look
up state and federal regulations on shipping hooch, what a
mess!
When
I lived in San Francisco I got involved with a company that
ships wine all across the United States and learned firsthand
what a jumble of vague and downright crazy laws there were.
First off, virtually every state has their own set of rules
for inter-state and intra-state shipping of alcohol and those
vary depending on whether the shipment is beer or wine or
distilled spirits. To complicate that further the federal
government has its own rules and regulations. It's enough
to give a person a major migraine and send them screaming
to the nearest liquor store to avoid all of this hassle in
the first place.
The
poor PR lady couldn't figure out how to get me a bottle or
even where I might go to get one since it was a relatively
new product with limited distribution. She finally found someone
who carries it but it involved an hour and a half car ride,
a ferry boat crossing and a commuter train trip with me buying
the bottle and then being reimbursed for my trouble which
was beginning to smell overly complicated. They finally managed
to hand carry a bottle over from the liquor store through
an employee who happened to be coming out my way, anyway.
Sheesh, I get stuff delivered to my door all the time.
Some
of it states its alcohol and requires I sign for it and some
comes in unmarked packages and gets left at my doorstep. From
everything I have researched, both methods are acceptable
since the booze isn't for resale, is a manufacturer's sample
and no money exchanges hands in either direction therefore
taxes don't apply. I can only assume that this poor woman
dove into the quagmire of regulations and began to drown in
them and panicked and didn't want to end up in jail or send
me to jail, which by the way I really do appreciate.
I
suspect the government agency behind all this chaos is called
the ATF but I can't prove it. ATF stands for Alcohol, Firearms
and Tobacco. You have got to be kidding me, why in the world
would anyone put those three together except to possibly party
over the weekend. While they were at it they should have included
Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll to create an agency called D.R.A.F.T.S.
(Drugs, Rock and Roll, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Sex).
Now there you have the makings of one hell of a weekend.
At
any rate I finally got it so here goes. This vodka all started
with the passion of the Rini, kinda sounds like a Mel Gibson
movie to me. One day Thomas Rini has an epiphany and realizes
that his life lacks passion but is full of spreadsheets and
graphs so he wanders out into the vast and arid deserts just
on the outskirts of Cleveland. After several days without
food or water or sleep he grasps the reality that he was put
on this earth to follow his passion and his passion was Vodka.
But not just any old vodka, it had to be super premium vodka
and it had to be his vodka. Originally he was going to call
his vodka Passion Vodka but he soon realized that he really
craved this vodka and since spelling wasn't his strong suit
he ended up calling it Crav Vodka.
Actually,
Rini got it right and even though his vodka is the new kid
on the block, he's already won the prestigious gold medal
from the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco. He hooked
up with Distilled Resources in Sun Valley, Idaho and using
Idaho winter wheat and ultra pure water from the Snake River
Aquifer he began producing his hooch through fractional distillation
in a four-column still and the results are in.
The
nose is earthy and faintly reminiscent of a wheat field bathed
in morning dew. There is just the tiniest bit of ethanol upfront
but that dissipates as rapidly as a fleeting ghost at the
break of dawn. The mouth feel is full bodied yet totally neutral.
It has a taste profile that reminds me of soft white bread
with a hint of yeast. The finish is smooth with a short but
sweet spice note that disappears just as quickly as it appeared.
This is a very nice, high quality super premium vodka and
at around $33.00 per bottle at a super premium price but worth
it.
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
http://cravspirits.com