Tastes

It smells like nothing. The palate is clean and it's a smooth vodka with pepper coming out on the finish. It doesn't have the grainy richness of Chopin Wheat, but it does have that neutral wheat character. I don't like this as much as Chopin Wheat, but it's pretty good. It's mostly neutral, but it's also a little sweet and a tad mineral. It's like a mix of spring water and sugar water with a peppery element. It isn't as smooth as Chopin Wheat either. I'd put it around the level of Tobaritch, though its actual character is quite different. The alcohol does make itself known a little bit. I think it's not quite as good as Tobaritch.

This is still clearly superior to 10 Thirty but not as good as Chopin Wheat. It's a bit harsh and peppery with some sweetness and citrus. Not rich or interesting, but the alcohol isn't too much and it doesn't taste industrial. Perhaps a waft of grain sweetness as well. It would actually be fairly good if it weren't so harsh. I'm thinking a 10 to 11 now, but I'm going to maintain my previous 10 since that harshness really scrapes up my tongue quickly. Flavor wise, this compares favorably with the Kirkland French vodka (though this is sweeter and lighter). The harshness here is a big problem though. It's a tough call to make, but I'm maintaining my previous rating.

It smells like nothing. The palate is rich rather than sweet with a corn presence sort of like sucking on unflavored popcorn or that aftertaste of unsweetened puffed corn cereal. It doesn't taste really good or interesting, but it's fine. It is fairly harsh though. There's some sweetness mingling with the peppery flavor and also a faint hint of tropical fruit. The peppery harshness has some alcohol to it too, which isn't great. It's a passable vodka, but not great. Coming back to this after 10 Thirty Vodka, the harshness really stands out more, though there's a peppery heat to it that makes it just seem spicy to some extent. I think I like Silver a bit better than 10 Thirty, but neither is all that great.

On a fresh tasting I'm hit almost entirely by alcohol and something industrial like rubber. In direct comparison, Chopin Wheat is much fresher with more of a grain flavor and is clearly vastly superior. I'm going to have to drop this rating. This is also harsher. Silver Vodka is also harsh, but is definitely cleaner in its flavor than this is.

The nose has a little bit of something that's really just an alcohol presence. The palate is immediately peppery and harsh. It has a long burn to it that has a full aspect that is nice because does make me think of pepper, but that also has an acute burning element that's just harsh. Aside from spice and some alcohol, it's hard to pick out particular flavors here. Ultimately, I really feel the harshness tearing up my tongue, so I have to say that this is a bad vodka, though not a horrible one I guess. There's nothing interesting here and the harshness makes it actively unpleasant to drink, but not completely intolerable.

It's clean, it's crisp, there's alcohol, there's cucumber, there's some pepper, there's something just the faintest tad off. I don't enjoy it and I don't know why anyone would want it, but here it is. It's not repulsive, but it's certainly not enjoyable. I'm dropping its rating slightly.

This smells like cucumber, but it has a fuller scent than Eight Degrees does, more like an actual cucumber has been cut open on a cutting board. The palate is indeed much more suggestive of that as well. There's still some flaws, but this time it's fighting with pepperiness and earthiness rather than lemon lime soda, so this is much more successful! This is far better than the Right Degrees Cucumber Vodka. I still have no idea what anyone would do with this, but it does fairly legitimately taste like vodka mixed with cucumber. Nice work, though I still don't like it. There's no way I'm giving this a 12. It tastes more like an 8 to a 10. The novelty unfortunately just doesn't justify its existence and the vodka does even bring in a little bit of citrus with the pepper, which wouldn't normally be a problem, but does give me awful flashbacks to other flavored vodkas. I'll give this a 10 for now. Unlike Eight Degrees, this works pretty well with a bunch of water added. It's like refreshing cucumber water but with a bit of a peppery kick a d some alcohol. I can't say that I ever want to have alcohol I can't detect in a drink because why suffer the health ramifications without getting to enjoy the nuance. That said, for someone looking to have a refreshing glass of something and also get a little tipsy, this is a test choice. I don't think I can adjust my rating based on this revelation since I have no basis for comparison, but I'd I were to adjust it, it would only go up. This is clearly the cucumber vodka to get (if you for some reason want cucumber vodka - might I suggest a nice bourbon, rum, scotch, or ice pick in the eye instead?).

This is still super lemony with some nice pepper. I actually do enjoy this, but its personality is definitely strong for a vodka and there's this lingering flavor of like lemon oil that really stands out. It's really hard to figure out how to rate this one. I strongly suspect it will work well in a martini, so I'll make one real quick. Yep! Solid choice for a vodka martini. Given that its destiny is probabaly as a mixer and so many mixed drinks that use vodka (and just mixed drinks in general) can benefit from (or at least not be harmed by) an extra squeeze of lemon, I'm bumping this up to a 13. For sipping neat though, your milage may vary. Regardless, it's no Chopin Wheat. That dry, vermouth character to this is really interesting. It does help to keep the alcohol presence down and the harshness doesn't overwhelm. There's just the right prickliness. I can even imagine giving this a higher rating.

It smells like nothing the palate is surprisingly sour and lively with some pepper to it that excuses the moderate harshness pretty well. There's a fruity citric quality like lemon and citron were mixed together, but in a subdued form - maybe they were candied first. This is an interesting profile. It's bitter and quite dry with minimal viscosity. I wouldn't say it's complex and it's toeing the line, nearly introducing industrial flavors, but it's just barely on the right side of that line. I wouldn't say I particularly like it, but it's a good choice for mixing into a fruity drink like a Cape Cod or possibly even with dry vermouth. It actually reminds me a bit of vermouth itself in this odd way. Yeah, it's fine. It definitely doesn't taste as pure as many other vodkas do, but it's interesting. I suspect there is a lot of rye in its mashbill.

The palate is neutral, a bit rich, a bit sweet, somewhat peppery. The viscosity is moderate, as is the harshness. It's a pretty solid vodka. It's sort of a nothing vodka, but I don't object to that. It's a clean flavor. There's no nice grain or anything, but it's fine. I'm thinking 12 to 13 because of its clean flavor. I think I'll bump it up to a 13.