The best days of doing these reviews on this site is when you find something that you’d normally never try, and are rewarded for the experience. While that may be colored by having so many bad spirits show up – it goes to the ethos of the site that it’s far worse to be stuck in the rut of what you know, instead of what could be. We honestly might have been stuck forever drinking Ketel One had we not started this reviewing process. In short we have to give props to a yacht racing vodka (no wait don’t go we’re not exactly cool how upper white middle class it is either)
That being said if you wanted our honest opinion – no you should not buy this. There are a few vodka’s that are as good as this for a much cheaper price. (Hammer + Sickle, Reyka, and Snow Queen) Like we said at the top – this vodka is one of the better days for reviewing not necessarily what your go-to vodka should be. Oddly enough this vodka wasn’t even our first choice – we had wanted to try the standard Beluga, but given it wasn’t available – we have this racing version.
What they Say: “Beluga transatlantic racing special edition vodka is inspired by the success of the Russian yachting team, racing in the water of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean under Beluga Sails. Beluga Vodka. Created, not made.”
Taste: 7.0 – It’s nice and almost a little bit sweet. Roughly though there’s very little there.
Aftertaste: 6.5 – There’s almost a bit of charcoal and possibly wheat like flavor. As far as vodka straight goes it’s not wildly flavorful or conversely flavorless, but isn’t bad.
Burn/Smooth: 6.0 – Okay, so there is a burn still. It’s not nearly as bad as it could be, but when you consider the price tag it’s a bit off.
Aroma: 8.5 – It’s not odorless, but instead nice, light and in no way harsh. It was hard to determine what the base of the malt was, but there was something there. Looking further into it’s mentioned that during filtration this actually goes through cotton – so maybe that’s it? Hard to say, but it does smell basically exactly what you’d want a vodka to smell like (if you do at all)
Honesty: 8.0 – Kudos for that team not actually being involved in any Russian doping scandals (that’d be a black mark for marketing). The raised fish is a nice touch by the way. Overall no crimes in literature, and the design is actually very nice.
Mixability: 7.67
W/ Rocks: 7.0 – Oh that is a tad dangerous. It really lets the flavors show a bit more. There’s a hint of charcoal and burn, but it’s certainly not bad at all if you’re looking for a sip.
Vodka Tonic: 7.5 – Vodka does very little here, but since this is vodka, that’s totally fine. Making this a standard you wish everything else was at.
White Russian: 8.5 – It has been a while since we’ve had a Russian that nice. But that bit of flavor promise from the addition of ice really adds on here, and there’s nothing to detract from it. It even seems to have made the drink creamier.
Value: 5.0 – See this is annoying. In reality this is a vodka we’d compare to the Hammer + Sickle, the Reyka’s, and the Snow Queen’s in terms of quality. Those however range a full 10 dollars cheaper. When you factor in the scores it does better in some places, but you are certainly paying for what you get. As such the value here has to be scored accordingly as average.
Google Shop Average: $37
Website: http://www.vodka-beluga.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 7.5
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Metric Score: 48.67/70 |+| Metric Average: 6.95 |+| Reviewer Average: 7.5
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Final Thoughts: So where do we end up? Well it’s an odd place. On the one hand we have ourselves a vodka that will do quite nicely on the rocks or in a white Russian when the mood hits. On the other is us saying – hey maybe don’t spend thirty seven whole dollars on this – even if it is kinda good. To b honest for a lot of vodkas on this site though – that’s not a bad place to be. More often we are doing everything in our power to highlight never buying a vodka – but you know what – if you get this? That’s fine. Good on you, and enjoy the vodka.
