13 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Has a fuller body than Mr. Belvedere if you can believe it.
Date of Review: Nov 17, 2001
The Bottom Line: Great hints of toffee, and equally amazing straight up, or as a mixer.
Ah yes. Vodka. Spirit of the college student. Spirit of the beginner drinker who doesn't like spirits but wants to get drunk. Spirit of the damned.
Also, coincidentally, the spirit of choice for MF...along with a good brandy.
But don't let that make you think I'm some sort of beginner drinker. Thanks to my father, who last year bought me a couple of bottles of Grey Goose, I've finally abandoned the more plebian types of vodka such as Absolut, and I've moved onto the big boys.
So it was with great trepidation that I grabbed the bottle of Belvedere from the store shelf. Hmm, it was as expensive as the Grey Goose (about 50 bucks Canadian), and it had just as nice a bottle, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
Now if you know MF, you know how I like my liquor- straight up. No ice, no garnish, no garbage like that. So naturally, that's what I did with this.
Tasteriffic.
It went down very smoothly, with just the faintest hint of alcohol. Amazingly enough...there was also like a candy taste to it. Like buttery toffee. Pretty surprising actually, since the Grey Goose I'd had in the past was just tasteless period. So this was really nice, and unexpected.
Of course, now with this new taste in hand, I decided to mix things up a bit, and added, get this, ICE! Unfortunately, I found this really diluted the sweetness that I had tasted before, and made it into more of a normal vodka. Maybe I'm weird, but hey, I just didn't like it this way.
Finally, I went straight to hell by mixing my 50 dollar bottle of vodka with cranberry juice. Again, the taste was lost, but I found that it became WAY too easy to drink. Half a pint of vodka mixed with half a pint of cranberry produced a pint of something that tasted solely like cranberry. Very nice for the aforementioned college student who just wants to get drunk I suppose. Although they'd have to be a rich college student.
So I guess in conclusion, if you want a great sipping vodka with some character, and a nice and unique taste, by all means try Belvedere. It's a touch expensive, but it'll be worth your time and money if you appreciate good quality alcohol.
If you want a great mixing vodka that you won't be able to taste, in order to get drunk as fast as you can, I once again recommend Belvedere, if you have the money.
And lastly, if you just want a cheap vodka, don't buy Belvedere.
