Review: Beluga Noble Russian Vodka

Last weekend we headed out of town to Tallahassee to celebrate homecoming at our Alma Mater. Seeing old friends and visiting old places always brings out the 21 year old in me, so needless to say we had plenty of fun. As usual when traveling, we tend to bring a few bottles of spirits from our own collection. This past weekend we had the pleasure of sipping on Beluga Vodka.

Beluga Vodka is one of the more interesting brands we’ve had the opportunity to sample in recent years. Like many well respected vodkas, it hails from Russia, and is distilled in Western Siberia. It’s made using Artesian water, and then undergoes double filtration through quartz sand and a silver filter which they claim GUARANTEES exceptional purity, and a more unique taste. Pretty big claims for any brand to make, but by stamping themselves with a name like Beluga, the bar has already been set pretty high. While filtering, Beluga Vodka goes through a 30 day rest period, giving it maturity and creating the unique taste they look for. Included in its ingredients are honey, oat extract, and milk thistle. When all is said and done, it’s bottled in what I think is one of the sexiest bottles I’ve held in quite some time, and then corked, but not by just any cork. It’s cork is ecologically clean materials guaranteeing the bottle is hermetically sealed. To save you the time of grabbing a dictionary or using Google, hermetically is just a fancy way of saying air tight.

First Impression: Wow, did we mention it’s bottle is impressive. Slick, well designed, and has a raised texture. The small fish on the label is actually attached manually. It symbolizes the purity of nature. The synthetic cork, as promised kept our vodka air tight, and is a nice touch. A crappy cork on on a fancy bottle is like wearing a $800 suit and putting on Payless shoes. You laugh, but people do it…

The Taste: So I was tempted to pour this into a glass and add in a few other ingredients, because well, that’s what vodka is for. WRONG… That’s just what most people think. Vodka + Mixer + Ice = how to drink vodka. While that’s how you probably were taught to enjoy vodka, the spirit when crafted correctly, can be a great sipper on ice. Now anyone that tells you they enjoy drinking vodka straight AND warm, is most likely a liar, or a desperate alcoholic. For the sake of this review we did sample it straight both warm and chilled. Warm, we admit wasn’t the best, leaving a bit of an aftertaste. Chilled on ice, Beluga is in a category all by itself. Such a clean taste, smooth without any harshness, and nice sweet finish to it. If I had to guess, the sweetness results from the honey in its ingredients.

Price: $30 (750/ML)

Grade: A

Final Word: Everything about beluga screams high priced, fancy, and luxurious. But what does all this actually mean? It means its a pretty damn good vodka. In fact, we generally shy away from luxury vodkas because a) most of us use vodka simply for mixing in drinks and more often then not a mid grade vodka will be just fine in your mixed drink and b) most high end vodkas are a joke. With the exception of a select few, a lot of what you’re paying for is the branding. Beluga is the exception and not the rule. Our only regret is that we finished the entire bottle while out of town with friends, and now almost everything else in our liquor cabinet is a let down. Hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity to try their other grades of vodka, which include Beluga Gold Line, Beluga Transatlantic, and Beluga Allure.

For information on Beluga, their spirit offerings, and availability, visit their website at http://vodka-beluga.com

Cheers!

Photo and Sample provided courtesy of representatives of the brand.