Beluga Noble Russian Vodka

Grande pureté et légèreté. Un grand classique très digeste.

Another outstanding Russian vodka. A bit of lemon and spice.

Rating: 14/23 Something that's funny is that I don't remember why I bought this vodka. I really have no definitive recollection of it being considered to be good and I didn't know that the fish on the front of the bottle is 3D and made of metal. So the bottle looks freaking awesome, but this is vodka, so who knows what they're trying to pull with the liquid inside. N: It's vodka; it smells like nothing. There's a faint hint of grain, with that signature citrus like in a single grain whiskey. P: This really knocks my socks off. Immediately, I love this vodka. It's super smooth and very much in the neutral camp with a light sweetness that brings in the tender grain. There's just a tad of harshness, which I can forgive (it's barely perceptible) and maybe a faint hint of earth and pepper if you really look. There's a tad of alcohol, but you really need to be looking for it. A light pop of fruit and tartness do come out. I don't believe that all vodka needs to be neutral, but this is a neutral vodka that really shows how great a neutral vodka can be. It's a really nice sipper, aside from that little bit of harshness. There's no rubber or any other off flavor here. Just pure grain alcohol. F: The light sweetness, tartness, and alcohol remain the longest. It is sadly harsher than Ocean Organic Vodka, so even though I slightly prefer the profile of this, it is a bit harder to sip. This is still a great vodka, but it isn't at the level of something like Ocean or Chopin Wheat, unfortunately. Still, it immediately makes it into my top 3. Because of the harshness, I can't give it a 16, but I think it does earn a 15. I'd be happy sipping it. It's so disappointing that it's harsh on the finish though because it's so delightfully smooth up front. Chopin Wheat costs a little less than this and is just generally a bit better. If you need something truly neutral, this would be a solid choice, but Chopin Wheat is less harsh and has a good flavor to it. Ocean is a hair more expensive, so I can kind of understand picking this over it in certain circumstances. I don't regret buying this by any means, but when my Chopin Wheat runs out, I'll be buying a new bottle of it rather than just subbing this in. It's such a shame because aside from the harshness this is just as good as Chopin, albeit different in nature. I like the flavor (or perhaps lack thereof) here so much that I want to give it a higher rating than 15, but frankly given the harshness even a 15 feels a tad generous. Flavor-wise, it's about on par with Ocean, but the harshness here is much more substantial. I think I'm going to land on a 14 for this initial tasting.