Tastes

Rating: 6/23 There's a definite lemon scent here, but it's also a bit off with some nose of spicy chamomile, sweetness, and bath soap giving it a sort of lemon soda vibe. It's intriguing. The palate is sweet with a bitterness. The bitterness grows. There's some sweetness too like candy that is almost cloying, but the bitterness overwhelms the back. That bath soap flavor really comes through. This is really awful - it's very difficult to drink. It's hard to imagine a situation in which I would ever want this. It's aggressively bad. Really, it's almost impressive. That bit of sweetness is the only thing saving it. It doesn't taste like lemon, though maybe it does have a hint of watered down lemon extract flavor to it. Oh good lord this is awful. The more I drink it, the worse it gets. It definitely has a lime flavor to it, which apparently it is supposed to, but the picture only shows lemon, so the lime is confusing and off-putting. It definitely has some of that lemon lime soda flavor. The lemon lime soda flavor saves it from being the worst thing ever, but it can't overcome that bath soap. Yuck! On second taste, this is somewhat redeemed. The key is that it is supposed to taste like lemon lime and indeed it is a bit like boozy Sprite. I actually now think that this is substantially better (still bad though) and the Veil Raspberry is substantially worse. That mushroom umami in the raspberry is what really kills it. It shouldn't be that way. This does still taste metallic and artificial with a hint of soap though. The Veil Peach has some nicer sweetness that makes it work better. Smells like Sprite. Tastes like Sprite with a bit more bitterness mixed with alcohol. Aside from some rubber on the midpalate and finish a bit, it really tastes like Sprite with alcohol, but not as good. It's not very good, but after accepting that the flavor is supposed to be citron, not lemon as the label suggests, this tastes a lot better. I'll give it the bump to 6. It might even be a 7.

Rating: 9/23 The nose has peach, with a gummy candy tinge and also bitter and metallic. It smells a bit enticing, but not super promising. The palate certainly has peach, but it tends toward the bitter side and tastes very artificial. Some mushroom umami oddly comes in. There's a mineral flavor too. I like the sweet peach, but it's otherwise a mess. It's a fight to drink it. It's substantially better than the raspberry though. It's a little bit better than Veil Citron due to its sweetness, though it has the same flaws, possibly a bit worse. In a cocktail, this could work. Don't have it straight though. The nose has peach gummies in spades and also some metal. It really delivers on the peach gummies flavor, though with a bit more creaminess and heat than expected. I though this would taste a lot like metal, but it's actually fairly drinkable. Well, not drinkable drinkable, but it could work in a cocktail. There isn't really any additional flavor of any kind here, but that's fine. This is the best of these flavored Veils so far. I'm thinking 8 to 10. The metal is a bit off-putting, so I'll back up to 8 to 9 and land on 9 for now, especially since there's a bit of nice spicy grain coming through from the vodka to mix it up. I don't know, maybe a 10 is appropriate. 9 for now. Note months after the fact: I don't recall finding any of these Veil flavored vodkas to be at all drinkable, but I guess I thought that this one wasn't actively painful *shrugs*

Rating: 2/23 Wow, the nose really wafts up here. This smells a lot better than the Citron does. It has a lot of sweet, syrupy raspberry smell, quite like Chateau Monet, but far less rich. In fact, this is difficult to smell in direct comparison. It has a bit of a watery jello smell. The palate sadly disappoints with tart, watery fruitiness mixed with a bit of mushroom umami and some rubber. It does remind me a bit of whiskey or tequila with that alcohol coming through. It's a bit like a much worse version of Cava De Oro Extra Anejo. It's less viscous and far less sweet than Chateau Monet with none of the rich complexity, prominent fruitiness. And nuttiness. This pales in comparison. And when I say "pales in comparison", I mean "is awful". Some of the more tart raspberry comes through right after having the Chateau Monet, but there is a bit of sweetness too. It's still watery, but there's a big dose of the mushroom umami. It's weird, but this could work in a tequila cocktail. Since it tastes better than Veil Citron and can be mixed, it gets a few more points. It's still disgusting though. Yeah, that mushroom brings out a lot of rubber, though maybe there's a bit of earthiness and light grain too? Unlike the Citron, I do like this more the more I drink it. It does become a tad interesting with a nice sweet raspberry note like La Croix on the finish. Cava De Oro Extra Añejo is a lot richer with more sweetness, but also with additional dryness and spice characteristics mixed with a bit of mintiness and a prominent woodiness. The Cava De Oro doesn't knock my socks off, but it sure is a lot better. On second tasting, this is much worse. The bitterness, metal, and mushrooms come out more. The nose has a nice, sweet, raspberry scent mixed with a bit of rubber and metal. The palate has a raspberry flavor for sure, but it's more of a raspberry seed flavor with mushroom characteristics and some metal and possibly rubber. It tastes like it was aged in raw cherry wood for too long sort of. It's pretty bad. I'm torn between a 2 and a 3, but I think with the mushroom and rubber there's enough bitterness and badness that don't belong to warrant a 2.

Rating: 3/23 The nose is fairly light with only a bit of sweet vanilla. This isn't like the whipped Cream. The palate tastes more like vodka with a bit of sugar and a floral bit they melds with the vanilla. It all tastes quite artificial, but it's also mild. This is thoroughly uninspiring. This is hard to compare with other veil offerings, but right now I'm putting it back around the pear level due to its blandness, artificial flavors, and general blandness. It isn't worth drinking and it's hard to figure out what the intended use case is. That bubblegum flavor sure does make it here too - in spades but only off and on. Right now, I'm thinking 3 to 4. I'm slightly inclined to prefer the whipped Cream, but it's close. This reminds me of cream soda, but less rich. I guess Whipped Cream does taste like cream soda too, but at least it's supposed to a bit. I'm leaning toward a 3 now. It has a bit of a light vanilla extract smell on the nose. With a lot of alcohol. It isn't nearly as sweet as the whipped Cream Veil and has a lot more alcohol to it. It's a cleaner flavor and does have a lot of vanilla, though it doesn't explicitly taste good on its own. The flavors are really rough. It tastes bad. There's a lot of alcohol flavor. It's like bad vodka with a light flavoring. It's below a 5, but isn't at the bottom. The vanilla tastes totally fake though and is a total detriment to the vodka. I'm thinking 3 to 4. It isn't totally egregious, but it's pretty bad. Sadly, I think it's a 3.

5/23: Wow, this has a luscious pear nose with a ton of richness and sweetness that gives it a juicy yet crisp presence. It does smell more like pear gummies, but it still smells quite appealing. The palate has a big hit of pear gummies with a bitter, metallic backing that gradually builds and overwhelms a bit. The richness and sweetness are nice, but the core flavor suffers. It's still not bad, but the peach coheres a bit better. The alcohol and metallic flavors come through here quite a bit. The peach tastes more like peach gummies with alcohol. This has more of a metallic flavor and is just kind of off. It tastes a bit like bubblegum too. I'd put this just behind the Citron. The nose is a lot like pear jolly ranchers with a surprising amount of sourness. The palate is quite full with a lot of jolly rancher flavor followed by pear, then metal, then a dash of rubber. It's better than the pineapple, but not by a lot and it doesn't really taste a whole lot like pear. If the citron were labelled as lemon, it would be worse than this, though that statement doesn't actually make this better. It has a lot of green apple jolly rancher to it too, which is really weird, but at least is still fruity. It doesn't taste bad so much as it tastes wrong. It's a bit above pineapple, but a step below citron. 5 makes sense given that those are 4 and 6 respectively. The rubber does really eventually start coming through, but it doesn't last, fortunately. I can see dropping this to a 4, but I'll leave it at 5 for now.

4/23: It doesn't just smell like pineapple - it smells a bit like Pina colada with a creamy coconut scent. It smells like this plus a bit of coconut milk could be a good drink on its own. The palate is quite sweet and also has a bit of a creamy vibe like Nigori sake. The pineapple and coconut really come through. It may still suffer from alcohol with some other odd flavors like a tad of cherry cough syrup, some metal, and a tad of artificial sweeteners. Well, it does, actually. It doesn't taste that bad, but it isn't quite a high point for will. A hair of mushroom comes out with the coconut umami and the overall profile is just weird. This is pretty close to the peach in terms of quality. The peach is still a bit better though. This is more on the level of the Citron. Actually, Citron is a bit better. This is right on par with Pear. The nose smells like underripe pineapple that's been coated in tar. Maybe with some fennel too. It's good at the core, but has some problems at the edges. The palate is worse though, with a lot more alcohol and a bit of a young corn whiskey flavor (without the graininess - just the off sweetness). The underripe pineapple with bad fake caramel sweetness of young whiskey and tar palate isn't as good as the already questionable nose, though it isn't an unmitigated disaster. It's really bad though. Definitely less than a 5. Maybe a 3 or 4. I'm thinking 3 now. Maybe it really is an unmitigated disaster.

3/23: There's a sweet, floral smell of cherry Tootsie pops. It smells exactly like that. The palate is much less sweet with a big pronounced bitterness. It's quite floral and a bit herbal, but doesn't really taste like cherry. There is a tad of soap though. It's a clean flavor, but not at all a good or representative one. Wow, it's so bitter and herbal. This is terrible. It could work as part of a digestif, but it's such a mess. It just doesn't taste like cherry beyond a hint of floral cough syrup wafting through. I'm thinking 3 right now. I sometimes think of a 2, but right now I'm still leaning toward a 3.

The nose is non-existent, unlike that of Chopin Wheat. The palate is super light with a bit of sugar water sweetness like a cheap whiskey that was not aged long enough, though not necessarily in a bad way. There's a bit of bitter alcohol too that has an isopropyl taste, but it isn't too bad. There isn't much burn on it either. It lacks the rich flavor of the countryside with its grain and bit of chocolate that Chopin Wheat brings, though it also has less alcohol flavor. It also lacks that nice citrus zip that keeps Chopin refreshing. Chopin is much more luscious and more intense. Chopin tastes kind of like the scotch to Veil's Irish whiskey. Veil isn't very interesting and its finish has some unappealing character that is hard to place, but it's still a surprisingly solid drink. It would be great for mixing and it could also be sipped. The more I drink the two, the more I appreciate the Chopin over this. It isn't really special, but it's not bad. There might be a hint of corn flavor to it. This has a few interesting notes up front, but it ends with a fair amount of alcohol. Definitely not as good as Chopin Wheat or Belvedere. Upon closer tasting, that alcohol flavor is present throughout. This isn't hard to drink, but I wouldn't choose it for sipping neat. It's passable though. I might drop it from 11 to 10 or I might leave it there. Maybe a bit of that alcohol is actually grain like in an Irish whiskey, but it isn't actually enjoyable. Chopin Wheat has a much cleaner flavor with a lot more nice sweetness to it. Chopin is quite neutral in comparison. This is a decently smooth and neutral vodka. There's a hint of sweetness, but it also has a lot of alcohol flavor. It's less interesting than UV vodka, but the profile is less challenging and it's less harsh. It isn't even actually smooth. It's not bad, but not something to drink on its own. I'm going to drop it to a 10.