By
George Brozowski
I
have
to admit that vodka is one of my favorite spirits
but did you know it's also good for countless other things
than just drinking? Vodka has a long history of use as a medicine,
having been sold by druggists to cure everything from infertility
to colic and the plague. But it gets even weirder than that.
You
can neutralize the itch and rash of poison ivy with vodka.
Vodka kills odor causing bacteria and is perfect for spritzing
your clothes to keep them smelling fresh. It's perfect for
shining up your chrome, glass and porcelain fixtures.
Who
knew, it even repels and kills insects as well as your liver.
It also disinfects and alleviates some of the bite of a jellyfish
sting. Vodka and shampoo is better than shampoo and conditioner.
You can cure foot odor by washing your feet with vodka. And
of course if you just go ahead and drink it, none of that
other stuff will eventually matter anyway.
This
brings us to the vodka at hand, Marquis Vodka
from Poland. And I must say that at around $45.00 per 80 proof
750 ml bottle I wouldn't do any of the above and simply drink
this spirit as it is one of the priciest vodkas out there.
It comes in a beautiful blackened bottle with distinctive
silver lettering. Just under the scroll type "M"
logo there are the Latin words "Nulli Secundus"
which translates as "Second To None"
This
vodka is made from Rye in a small artisan distillery founded
in 1895 and located between Warsaw and the Ukrainian border
in Poland. They go old school and use a hundred year old copper
still and then filter through charcoal four times to remove
all remaining impurities. Their philosophy is to not remove
all the flavor of the rye and the limestone water to avoid
creating the blank slate other distillers create with their
overly processed wheat and corn based vodkas. Well, let's
see if they got it right.
The
nose is a bit more full bodied than most vodkas and contains
the faint essence of the rye and a touch of grass followed
by a hint of alcohol. The grain and the limestone come forward
on the palate followed by a trace of buttery sweetness and
vanilla. It is thick and almost creamy in a very pleasant
way. The alcohol is very restrained and smooth with just the
slightest tingle.
The
finish is also very smooth and well rounded and long and leaves
a nice velvety taste of grain and grass and vanilla.
On
the rocks all these flavors blend together and produce a full
bodied vodka that is thick and tasty. In some ways it reminds
me of one of my other favorite Polish vodkas, Bison Grass
flavored vodka that has many of the nuances of its terroir.
I can really taste where this vodka comes from and what it
is made of.
Now
don't get me wrong, Marquis Vodka is not flavored but is indeed
flavorful in a very natural way, good job guys!
When
you go out and buy this vodka for goodness sake don't use
it in some mixed drink. This spirit is good enough to stand
on its own.
On
a side note, I recently reviewed Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee
White Whiskey and just found out today that Jack Daniels is
suing Popcorn over the size, shape and style of their bottle
and label saying that it is "confusingly similar".
Good luck to all over that one!
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
www.marquisvodka.com/