Well back to what we always do review vodkas – Funny I wrote that as booze but then I realized how many vodka’s we’ve actually reviewed in our near 2 years here. This one though you may have not heard of as its micro-distilled. Which means that – oh yes – it’s time for some vodka hipster reviews.
Now personally I liked their first album – their later stuff just had way more burn and the aftertaste was just subpar – I really wish my vodka’s would stop becoming sell-outs (Looking at you New Amsterdam with your peach and berry flavors)
In all seriousness though we actually enjoy this vodka – we just don’t 30 dollars enjoy it. And in that price class I could never see why anyone would not go for Double Cross or Hammer + Sickle – at the end of the day that’s really the issue. It’s not in the nice tier, but it’s a bit over the average tier in terms of taste – and mediocre everywhere else.
What they say: “Front: Batch 12.14 Bottle 195
Back: Produced and bottled by the Northern Maine Distilling Co. Houlton Maine, USA. Contains 100% Neutral grain spirits micro distilled for you.”
Taste: 8.0 – It’s a nice taste, it’s smooth and creamy – it’s a good balance between being nice and creamy or being not there at all. We really enjoy it.
Aftertaste: 6 – It’s not as pleasant as the initial taste – best way to say it is that it comes together for a great taste but then splits up.
Burn/Smooth: 5 – Sadly it’s an average vodka burn – which is depressing.
Aroma: 7.5 – Fairly faint – you really have to get into it to find that cheap vodka burn.
Honesty: 7 – It’s very upfront about what it says – not wanking at all. The real issue is that the name is just Twenty 2 which does nothing, and sadly it’s not going out of its way.
Mixability: 6.5
Russian: 7 – Like the issue is that compared to Belvedere or Ciroc it’s a good Russian. The basic deal is that unless they had Double Cross and Hammer + Sickle I would name this vodka to my bartender. He would then not know it because micro-distilled.
Vodka Tonic: 6 – It disappears a bit, but that average vodka burn is still there.
Value: 3.75 – It’s a little sad that for an American micro-distilled vodka that it’s that expensive.
Google Shop Average: $27
Website: http://www.twenty2vodka.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 6.0
DJ_Lvl: 6.5
Want to compare this spirit against our archives? Visit our statistics page.
Metric Score: 43.75/70 |+| Metric Average: 6.25 |+| Reviewer Average: 6.25
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Final Thoughts:
We like the taste and the Russian, but the burn and price just make it pale to other vodka’s we know. The final result is that we do love this vodka and we have the utmost support for this, Cold River and other local vodka things in America – we just really wish that was about 7 dollars less.
I’m the president and founder of the company and the Twenty 2 brand…
sorry for taking so long to find this review, but here I am now, and I thank you for your honest review,
so, honestly, thank you. :). nicely put.
let’s start with price…. and i’ll start with honestly saying “shit…pricing vodka is tough”. Honestly the most expensive part of our entire package is the glass bottle, and 2nd most expensive is the federal and state taxes. they are part of doing business, but they also affect the price on the shelf unfortunately. We are very aware of the other [cheaper] brands out there and believe in what we create as being the best in the world and worth of the ultimate cost per ounce. I like to remind people out there that there is such a thing as too cheap, especially when it comes to something you consume, and while there are other alternatives out there, we are offering our consumers real value that I know they believe in. Thanks again for the time spent sampling our vodka, I noticed that it was our “old” label and I am sure that you will enjoy the output from our “new” red and grey label even more. This new label embodies our improved distilling an chill filtering process which I am sure you will be able to distinguish given your in depth review our our earlier offering. Please reach out to me on twitter too @Twenty2vodka -Scott. President & Co-Founder.
You actually did pretty well (anything that gets an 8 in taste has done great things on HBR). We are a bit different from every other review format as we treat a 5 as an actual average – and getting a 10 in a category is nigh-impossible.
Thanks for pointing out that you’ve got an updated product though, if I see it under the new label I’ll be sure to add that to the list of things to review. Looking forward to great vodka!