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I would like to start this vodka review with a recipe for a vodka drink I just discovered and will be attempting to try this weekend, and I do mean attempting as it is totally way, way over the top.  As a matter of fact, it is so totally over the top that when you look down from those lofty heights, you can’t even see the top.  Should you be endowed with either the courage or the stupidity to try this drink and survive, please let me know what you think, that is if you have any brain cells left and can still think.  It’s innocently enough, and sweetly enough, called an Aunt Roberta Cocktail.  You simply mix together: 2 shots of absinthe, 1 shot of brandy, 3 shots of vodka, 1.5 shots of gin and 1 shot of blackberry liqueur and let the fun begin.  It is rumored by those who have survived that no one has ever consumed 2 and lived to tell the tale.  Good luck!!

On a more nutritious note, if I had 10 pounds of Idaho Russet Burbank potatoes, I would make mashed potatoes to go with my meatloaf but not Bill Scott, who lives in Rigby, Idaho.  He is the Master Distiller of the Silver Creek Distillery in Rigby, and he makes one bottle of Blue Ice Vodka with every 10 pounds of his Idaho potatoes.  Now, I’ve always known Idaho was famous for its potatoes, but I’ve recently discovered that Idaho has quite a number of vodka brands and distillers who aren’t mashing those potatoes.  Well, I guess being close to the source of your main ingredient makes sense.  Let’s see what all the fuss is about,

Blue Ice American Potato Vodka comes in a clear but icy blue bottle.  The nose has a hint of potatoes and even their terroir, followed by a faint hit of pepper and just the nuance of alcohol.  On the palate, the feel is full bodied and a little oily with very little other flavor except possibly a smidgen of sweetness and a faint spice note. The finish is smooth and short, again leaving a touch of the sweetness and the spice.  On the rocks, the spice note comes front and center followed by that hint of sugar and then a bit of the potato but that’s stretching it as everything begins to blend quite nicely together. The finish is very smooth and very short. 

Now for the Blue Ice Crème Brulee Vodka, again the same icy blue bottle but this time with an inviting picture of a crème brulee with a vanilla bean flower at the lower end of the bottle.  I sure do have to give it to them; straight out of the bottle, this stuff smells spot on like crème brulee right down to the vanilla and the caramelized top.  Other than what I have just described, the nose really has little else to interfere with a total crème brulee experience.  On the palate, the sweetness and oiliness and thickness of the vanilla bean flavor and the sugar take right over.  There is no spice note to speak of and even the taste of the vodka is muted. This flavor is surprisingly deep and complex and if I try hard enough I can actually separate the taste of the top from the base of the crème brulee. Go figure.  The finish is, of course, sweet and filled with vanilla and yet very smooth and long lasting.  On the rocks, the crème brulee flavor actually coalesces into a very striking resemblance of the actual desert.  The vodka definitely takes a back seat to all these dessert flavors, but you can tell its lurking back there.  Again, the finish is smooth and sweet and makes you feel like you just had dessert.

This is a very palatable vodka and at only around $17.00 per 750 ml bottle a real deal in every sense of the word.

by George Brozowski

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