Review: Pristina Vodka

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 21, 2011

You might say that I am a bit of a Highwood Distillers enthusiast. I toured their distillery last year (See Highwood Distillery Tour), and I have unabashedly fallen in love with the quality of their whisky which seems to me to be one the best kept secrets of the whisky world. In spite of my fondness for this distillery, I find myself continually underestimating their abilities.

And so we come to Pristina Vodka…

I guess I should have known when I received my sample bottle that what was inside would be nothing short of marvelous. But maybe it was the uninspiring bottle and label, or maybe it is just a case of us Canadians being a little too self conscious to believe we can be as good as everyone else in the world. Whatever the reason, when I put the Pristina in a flight of Vodka samples at a recent tasting where it was up against an Authentic Russian Vodka called Black Stallion, a real Polish Vodka called Alchemia Czysta, and a Vodka made in France called Grey Goose, I was not expecting what happened. What happened was that every person at my tasting session chose the same Vodka as their favourite, and every person said it wasn’t even close. That favourite, the clear head and shoulders winner without reservation in everybody’s opinion, was of course the Pristina Vodka from Highwood Distillers.

I guess I have already tipped my hand that the score will be high, but here is an excerpt from my review:

“…My good feelings towards the Vodka continued as I took my first large swallow (shot). I was happy to taste no vegetal tones and to feel no burn at all in my throat. The swallow was clean and completely smooth. The back of my mouth received a mildly spicy warmth; but my throat felt no heat, even with a substantial swallow of the Pristina Vodka…”

You may read the full review here: