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Archive for the ‘Vodka Reviews’ Category

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Review: Park Distillery Classic Vodka

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 8, 2018

Park Distillery  is located in the town of Banff, Alberta. The facility is not just a distillery, it is also a restaurant and bar which opened in May of 2015 shortly after the Provincial government introduced new regulations which allowed for Craft distilleries to operate. Located high in the Mountains of Banff Provincial Park, the Distillery proudly serves regionally produced food in its restaurant, and local (sourced from high-altitude family farms in the Alberta foothills) grains to produce their spirits.

Park Distillery Vodka is produced on the distillery’s 600L Kothe Pot – Twin Column Hybrid Still. It is made from 100% Alberta Triticale (hybrid of wheat and rye) and glacial water which originated at six high glaciers in the Rocky Mountains. This water gains minerality as it travels across rich limestone deposits. The spirit is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.

When I tasted the Park Distillery Vodka for the first time, I conducted a side by side tasting with several other locally produced craft vodkas. From that line-up, I chose the two which I felt were the best spirits and decided to write full reviews for them.

This is the review for the Park Distillery Vodka.

Review: Park Distillery Classic Vodka

“… I felt the vodka brought a very light minty aroma into the air which was combined with a sort of lemony scent. There was also light impressions of grain spice.  When sipped the vodka was quite flavourful with mint, grain spice , lemon and a light vegetal flavour …”

Please enjoy my review which includes my cocktail suggestion, the Lemon-Lime Vodka Gimlet.

Chimo!

 

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Review: Summer Love Spiced Pear Vodka

Posted by Arctic Wolf on March 17, 2018

This past fall at the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Show I met, Mike Stanfield, Founder of Starr Distilling Co. based in Calgary Alberta. He was presenting his new Summer Love Vodka flavours, Raspberry and Peach. We struck up a conversation about the burgeoning Micro distilling industry in Alberta, and I wanted to know his story.

Mike told me that his venture started as a hobby making Limoncello and Coffee Liqueurs in his basement to share with friends. His repertoire expanded to making fruit infusions and letting them sit for months to absorb flavor and color. Mike said that he never intended to make spirits commercially, he just enjoyed serving his creations at dinner parties sending his friends home a little happier than when they arrived.

Mike eventually found SRL Global Distillers and a business relationship was forged. They currently produce his Summer Love Raspberry and Spiced Pear Vodkas which he is marketing in Alberta. The base vodka for these spirits is distilled 5 times and filtered to be a neutral spirit. Real fruit from British Colombia is used to create his flavours.

Each bottle of Summer Love Spiced Pear Vodka is produced using more than a pound of BC pears combined with the warm flavour of real cinnamon bark. The spirit is bottled at 34.6% alcohol by volume.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Summer Love Spiced Pear Vodka

“… When I took my first sip, I decided that the scents and smells I encountered in the breezes above the glass gave a true representation of the overall flavour. I tasted heated cinnamon immediately, and that same light sweetness of cane sugar. The flavour of pears came through as well; but the fruit is definitely taking a backseat to the cinnamon …”

Please enjoy my review which includes my recommended cocktail, the Summer Love Mule.

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Review: Summer Love Raspberry Vodka

Posted by Arctic Wolf on March 11, 2018

This past fall at the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Show I met, Mike Stanfield, Founder of Starr Distilling Co. based in Calgary Alberta. He was presenting his new Summer Love Vodka flavours, Raspberry and Peach. We struck up a conversation about the burgeoning Micro distilling industry in Alberta, and I wanted to know his story.

Mike told me that his venture started as a hobby making Limoncello and Coffee Liqueurs in his basement to share with friends. His repertoire expanded to making fruit infusions and letting them sit for months to absorb flavor and color. Mike said that he never intended to make spirits commercially, he just enjoyed serving his creations at dinner parties sending his friends home a little happier than when they arrived.

Mike eventually found SRL Global Distillers and a business relationship was forged. They currently produce his Summer Love Raspberry and Spiced Pear Vodkas which he is marketing in Alberta. The base vodka for these spirits is distilled 5 times and filtered to be a neutral spirit. Real fruit from British Colombia is used to create his flavours.

Summer Love Raspberry Vodka is produced using more than a pound of real raspberries in every bottle! It features the both the tart and the sweet flavour of fresh-picked British Columbia raspberries.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Summer Love Raspberry Vodka

“… Mike promised me both the tart and the sweet flavour of fresh-picked British Columbia raspberries. I am happy to say that the flavour I encountered when I took my first sip was exactly as described. If any sugar has been added to sweeten the flavour, that sweetness has been added judiciously which makes this about as good a representation of real raspberry fruit as I have tasted in a flavoured spirit …”

Please enjoy my review which concludes with a nice cocktail suggestion, my Cran-Raspberry Cosmopolitan.

Chimo!

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Review: Sobieski Vodka

Posted by Arctic Wolf on March 4, 2018

Sobieski Vodka is (according to their website) the number 1 selling premium vodka in Poland. It is a true Polish Vodka distilled on a multi-column still from 100% Dankowski rye which was harvested in the low-lying Mazovia (Masowse) region of Poland. The spirit was named ‘Sobieski’ to pay homage to King Jan III Sobieski (1629 – 1696) who is generally regarded as the last great King of Poland and whose spirit of indomitable will, remains even today as an integral aspect of the Poland’s national character.

Rather than sampling this spirit in isolation, I tasted the vodka, side by side with two others, Crystal Skull Vodka and Crystal Skull Aurora. All three Vodkas were chilled on my back deck for several hours (it was a very cold minus 18 degrees Celsius outside), and when I brought them in my thermometer indicated they had chilled to just above the freezing point of water (1 degree Celsius).

Here is a link to my review of the third vodka in the tasting flights:

Review: Sobieski Vodka

” … The aroma was clean to the point that I could find no aroma in my glass. As I sipped for the first time, the spirit brought forward a clean grain-like spiciness and wisps of a sweet lemony citrus in the glass …”

Please enjoy the review which includes a nice cocktail recommendation, the Yellow Bird of Sunshine.

Chimo!

 

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Review: Crystal Head Vodka

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 25, 2018

Crystal Head Vodka is a Vodka Brand created by Dan Aykroyd (Canadian Actor and Comedian) and John Alexander (Artist) in 2007. This is a corn spirit made from a brand of corn called Peaches and Cream. I have actually grown this corn varietal in my garden. It is very good, sweet with both light and dark corn kernels (hence the name, Peaches and Cream.)

The spirit is quadruple-distilled in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada by Globefill Inc. at the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation distillery. After distillation the spirit is filtered seven times, the final 3 of which are through a filter which are layered with Herkimer Diamond crystals.

Rather than sampling the spirit in isolation as I did seven years ago, I tasted the spirit, side by side with two others, the new Crystal Head Aurora (reviewed here), and a Vodka which I am very familiar with Sobieski (review pending). All three Vodkas were chilled on my back deck for several hours (it was a very cold minus 18 degrees Celsius outside), and when I brought them in my thermometer indicated they had chilled to just above the freezing point of water (1 degree Celsius).

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Crystal Head Vodka

“… The aroma was clean with a little grain spice and light scents of lemon balsam and cornstarch. When I took my first sip I noticed the vodka carried more sweetness than the Aurora and the Sobieski. This is no doubt the influence of the Peaches and Cream corn. (Corn spirits typically carry more sweetness than wheat or rye spirits.) There is also a light mint-like flavour which accompanies the sweetness …”

Please enjoy my review which contains two cocktail recommendations, Comopolitan and the Moscow Mule.

Chimo!

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