Nose - earthy, fungal sweetness, white pepper, savory vegetal notes, clay, squash, oily cooked onion and green pepper, vanilla, mild to moderate ethanol burn.
Taste - vanilla, sweet and salty earthy, fungal notes, white and chili pepper, cooked vegetable, ginger, powdered sugar, lemon pith, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with savory, oily cooked vegetable, sweet vanilla, and salty pepper flavors.
This vodka is made from sweet potatoes grown on the Nauti distillery farm in Cape May, New Jersey. It’s definitely the most full-flavored vodka I’ve tasted and probably will taste in the future. In fact, if someone told me this was some weird, diluted tequila, I would probably believe it. The nose is extremely vegetal and savory, like the stale aroma you’d find wafting off a dirty pan that was used to cook vegetables the night before. It’s not as bad as it sounds, though.
The palate is similar, but with more vanilla sweetness presenting. There’s also a citrus quality that I didn’t find on the nose. But the combination of sweet, salty, spicy, bitter, and savory is rather nice.
Overall, this is a really solid sipping vodka, assuming it’s a profile you enjoy. I suspect that tequila enthusiasts (and I consider myself one) might fall into that category. The caveat with this vodka, and it’s a big one, is that it’s so far from neutral that it doesn’t mix well in the standard vodka cocktails I’ve tried. I’m sure there are certain mixtures that would be delicious, but I can’t recommend this as a house vodka. Nonetheless, I’m rating these neat, and this one deserves a high score. Given that I happen to enjoy the profile, I’d rather drink this than Jim Beam Original most of the time.
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@BDanner I’m actually in Virginia, but visited the distillery during a recent trip to Cape May. Next time I’m up there, I’ll search it out.
@ctbeck11 I see this one came from NJ. NJ is one of the states that Bedlam is available in if you are there.
@BDanner Covington sounds very similar to the Nauti. Must be what you get with sweet potatoes. That rice vodka sounds interesting as well. I’ll snag one if I ever come across it. I tried a vodka a few years back from Hilton Head Distillery that I believe is distilled around 50x from molasses. At the time, I wasn’t focusing on tasting notes, but remember liking it more than the Tito’s I was mostly drinking those days.
I dig the vodkas with some character. There is a distillery near me that uses surplus North Carolina sweet potatoes to make vodka (Covington) and it is earthy, vegetal, oily, and savory. Makes a very good Gibson. Another uses rice which gives their vodka (Bedlam) a sweeter, almost buttercream icing note that I use for sweeter drinks and infusions. If I want neutral, Stoli will do.
@cascode It’s absolutely like no other vodka I’ve tasted. And agree, that’s a very good thing.
@Ctrexman Haha good call out :-)
As I was reading the nosing comments I thought "this almost sounds like tequila". Ha. It also sounds remarkably agreeable but quite unlike most vodka. That's a compliment to it, BTW.
....Jim white label cheers in the background
Well I think Chopin is considered one of the better examples so Ill assume they are no better than other types.
@Ctrexman Well, you requested I review a potato vodka. I’ve delivered...in a way. Still haven’t found a sample of true potato vodka to review. I had a bottle of Chopin Potato a while ago and didn’t like it at the time, so I’m not running out to buy another full bottle anytime soon.
"Given that I happen to enjoy the profile, I’d rather drink this than Jim Beam Original most of the time." Gasp....the crowd went silent