Skip to main content

Review: 26000 Vodka

26,000 Years in the Making
I first heard about 26000 vodka about a year ago. I read about how it uses a water source that is 26,000 years old and proceeded to make some crack about how it was a big lake of dinosaur pee. The makers of 26000 decided that they wanted me to eat my words of pee and send me some of the stuff. However, thanks to the efficiency of American Customs and the seeming fear of terrorists using vodka as a WMD, they were not able to get a bottle of the stuff to me from its native New Zealand.

Now with 26000's impending launch in a few months, they went the extra mile to be sure that I got a few bottles.

26,000 is a lot of years
The water for this stuff just started pooling as the Ice Age began its slow retreat. Though there weren't really any dinosaurs, man was hunting Mammoth's and still trying to figure out how to make a good vodka.

The bottle doesn't *look* that old!??
The bottle's got an elegant, vodka-ish design. Nothing too surprising here. I do like how it fits in my hand though and makes it easy to pour. Clearly this bottle was made much more recently than the water inside it.

Let's taste it
26000 is lovingly crafted in small batches and bottled by hand. It comes in Crystalline (straight vodka) and Raspberry and Lemon Drop flavor as well as Lychee flavor. I tried all three.

The Raspberry and Lemon Drop variety was pretty much what I expected. It was fruity and tangy without being syrupy. God, I hate thick syrup flavored alcohols. The Lychee was very light and is definitely perfect for mixing some of your favorite drinks (Probably makes one of the best Cosmo's ever).

The Crystalline version is really where the heart of the vodka shows its stuff. It seems like anyone can make a vodka and cover up any imperfections with their flavored varieties, but making it straight and doing a good job is a much tougher thing.

This bottle is obviously made by someone who loves vodka. They're not going for the tasteless, colorless, odorless that is the definition of vodka. They're not even going for something that's so smooth as to go down like water. The vodka gives you a nice, round mouth feel and reminds you it's there with just a bit of a bite. The subtle taste makes it perfect for mixing your lightest cocktail concoctions.

Thundah from Down Undah!
26000 vodka was a hit in my martini and disappeared almost instantly at the party I took the three bottles to. In a world where vodkas are getting purchased elsewhere, then repackaged and marketed under a different name, 26000 comes in playing hardball with a product that is a home run from start to finish (I use baseball analogies to confuse the Kiwi's).

Triple-distilled grain and water so old that it probably saw some of the last Neanderthals make for a great vodka. Expect it to launch here in the U.S. sometime in March.

26000 Vodka
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mixology Monday 7 - Gang Grape: The Second Pressing

I'm hosting the August version of Mixology Monday. You might say to yourself "Rick, August is a long way off. Tell me at the end of July." To this I say, "No." This coming weekend is the 4th of July. Then you'll be on vacation or something. Then you'll have that thing. Next thing you know, it'll be August. So, I warn you now. It's coming. It'll be here before you know it. So write about the topic and let me know and we'll post it on Mixology Monday. If you're looking for a way to promote your blog, this is a good way to do it. Topic: Grape drinks (Not wine). A pretty broad topic. It could be about Cognac, or Sherry, or something that only you may know about and want to share with us. BRING IT ON!
2 comments
Read more

Mx Monday - Grapes

Well, I waited until the last minute of Monday (Pacific Time) to wait for all the entries for this Mixology Monday and I'm glad I did! I was thinking of going through all of them and commenting on the post with a rating or something like "Here's a sucky post about Cognac" but then decided that would wear me out. I'm very fragile. Over at "Interesting Thing of the Day" Joe talks about Coffee, Grapa, and Friendship Yay! Jimmy makes a Fog Cutter! Go Sherry! Okay, Grape Vodka isn't great by itself in my opinion. But Barbie2Be makes a Grape-tini that looks simply yummy. That's right, I said it. Yummy. Man it's hot. I sure could use a drink, something refreshing yet good for my urinary tract. Marleigh at Sloshed! comes through with Deep Purple Punch . Darcy, The Royalty of All That Is Alcohol at The Art of the Drink, brought out a zinger with the Broken Spur Cocktail Haalo spends a little time telling us more about Brandy and mixing it wi...
1 comment
Read more

New Absinthe's on the market

Only 8 months after real absinthe has become legalized in the U.S., the importers and overseas producers have really started taking advantage of the buzz and mystique that absinthe holds and launching like crazy here. With more absinthe launches than vodka lately, it may not be long until the brands are just as gimmicky. Three new absinthe's have launched this week in hopes of garnering early market share in a soon-to-be-crowded market. La Fee Absinthe Parisienne is made in Paris and has been around for a while as it's been sold in 20 countries for the last 10 years or so. The product is made by traditional standards and the owner of the recipe still approves each batch of La Fee. For a while, Lucid Absinthe was the only one you could get in the US as it wasn't made from the traditional Grand Wormwood (until March of 2007) so it could get away with going around the law. The producers guessed that the stuff that was considered a fake (but still very flavorful) wasn'...
4 comments
Read more