Time for a vodka review that you’d think we’d have already clearly done – but we haven’t. Yes up there among the Ciroc and the Grey Goose is a Polish vodka known for being skinny and having trees and a French sounding name.
There is actually a bit of dilemma here. On the one hand, we think it’s better to review based on wording/branding of the product outside of a ‘marketing campaign’ (albeit one for a good cause). On the other hand, you did this to you, and we’re not going to lie or pretend about what we have.
What they Say: “John Legend, ambassador for the (Belvedere)RED campaign, has chosen to partner with Esther Mahlangu, a celebrated artist from South Africa on this Belvedere (PRODUCT)RED limited edition bottle. In the colourful style of her Ndebele tribal art, Esther has beautifully brought to life the four inspiring values of the (Belvedere)RED campaign: Security, Change, Support and Unity. For every bottle sold, Belvedere Vodka contributes 50% of its profits to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. ”
Taste: 6.0 – It starts off clean enough.
Aftertaste: 6.0 – There is also a creamy element in the aftertaste.
Burn/Smooth: 2.0 – It burns. Like way more than it should and then some.
Aroma: 5.0 – Not burning the nostrils, but that doesn’t smell like the top shelf.
Honesty: 3.5 – This really puts us in a bind, we don’t think of this as a whole doing well here, but if we take marks off people will say we support AIDS. We’ll just donate to charity and call the cards as they lie. This has so much ‘brand weight’ and associations about it that it’s not something you’d buy and put into your bar – unless you want to seem like a twat.
Mixability: 5.167
Vodka Tonic: 5.0 – It’s a standard V&T nothing brought to the table or taken away not on the tin.
White Russian: 6.0 – It’s a good Russian, but nothing to remotely write home about.
Screwdriver: 4.5 – There is a kind of metallic taste that was also noticed in the Russian, but now doesn’t seem tied to the container, but the vodka
Value: 3.0 – 50% of this went to Aid for Africa with HIV/AIDS which means we don’t regret buying it, we will ignore that however and discuss how this has no damn right costing this much. Snow Queen folks – buy that.
Google Shop Average: $34
Website: https://www.belvederevodka.com/en-int
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.0
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Metric Score: 30.67/70 |+| Metric Average: 4.38 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.0
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Final Thoughts: There is a valuable lesson here. While many assume this, Ciroc, and Grey Goose are functionally the same product – that’s just not true. Not we’re not saying Grey Goose is the best vodka, or even best for its price. But if you find yourself looking at these 3 wondering which to choose, it’s not Belvedere.
