Whasssssssssup? Now seriously people on this limited edition internet, what is in fact going on? Not that I really care though feel free to comment with your responses because I’m merely segwaying into my point which is my feelings on 42 Below Vodka. Which wishes it got 42 points on our scale.
Editor’s Note: This is back from when we were on Nerdfit, I’ve reuploaded it here, first as a reminder that Wodka needs to hire a better PR guy (especially considering some of their other forays like Billboards). But also because this stands as a testament to what we when we were at Nerdfit, and what Honest Booze Reviews stands for – Brutally honest, if you’re average you’re getting a 5. We are not your friends, and we are not going to hand out 94’s just because we want companies to give us free stuff and press.
I felt the need to write this up because of the backlash against Wodka for their comments made via their Twitter. First and foremost, it was weird seeing referrals from their website, and I was totally okay with them not being huge fans of our review. My original response via facebook was “Response to getting told a review is shit by a spirit company for giving them a 6 for being slightly better than average? Knowledge that we’re doing the right thing.” and I still stand by that. We knew doing these that we weren’t making friends. At Nerdfit we stood by our reviews as being honest and most importantly – very harsh.
Which is why I don’t want our fans or those who follow Wodka to boycott their spirit over this backlash. Their vodka is actually quite nice. It’s a middle shelf vodka for a bottom shelf price, and while yes their are things in the same tier that taste better or have better deals the difference between Wodka, Skyy, Ketel One, or Three Olives is negligible. They are a great bargain buy for a 750mL (Most handle prices are just as good a deal, but that depends on your area).
I realize some feel that the wording was out of line, especially for a professional company, and whether that’s true or not I’m not fazed. If anything I’m glad they had the balls to say it. While yes we are more informal in our reviews we’re not above calling something an absolute piece of fucken bullshit swill water if that’s what we feel. Remember tone and emotion aren’t conveyed best over the internet let alone within 140 characters.
Also you have to remember where they’re coming from. Our reviewing practices make it near impossible to get over a 9 let alone a perfect 10, when we say 5 is average, and 10 is akin to orgasm – we truly follow that mindset in a review. Even if something were to get a 10 in every taste related category it could still fall short on manliness, and it’d have to be one of the best deals of all time to get a 10 in every category. An overall score of 6 is a good thing to have, and I stress this – I’d totally buy Wodka again. I live in an area called CT where liquor prices are very high and if I need an everyday vodka (and I’m not getting something to review) I’d go with Wodka because I can’t get a good deal on Three-O or Skyy.
As for this situation, yes Wodka called us out on our review, we called them out on their response – at the end of the day they still offer a cheap above average Vodka, and we still review things with an iron fist.
Cheers Mates.
Another week and we still haven’t heard from Justice, though a Cambodian Monk has told us that “He is the envy of angels on earth.” So this week we carried on and went to a farm, where there were goats, a robot, and vodka. Since this isn’t Honest Robot-Goat Reviews, let’s move on to this weeks review Wodka vodka, which comes from Poland.
Hello and welcome to meat reviews. This week, like every week we review bacon. Because bacon is meat, and it’s bacon. So this week we went to the liquor store. Bacon was on sale. SO we bought all of it. Then we made vodka. Then we combined them. Then a friend of ours brought us this magnificent bastard. Then the world seceded from the universe.
Gentleman this is vodka.
Wait no, wrong intro. Unfortunately it’s not Ketel One again this week. Its Skyy Vodka…no, stop! Don’t go! Tonight on booze reviews: a bear brings by some vodka and mauls some mixed drinks! Not only that, a surprise ending, Skyy vodka is actually pretty good! Oh, whoops, looks like I gave away the whole review in the tag line. I’m going somewhere with this I swear…let’s start over.
While Ketel One isn’t our favorite spirit, not even our favorite vodka we have used more Ketel One in the Buffalo Lounge than any other liquor. Ketel One is our go-to drink for its wide use in Russian, screwdrivers, and tons of other mixed drinks, without sacrificing quality in the least. It is the standard we judge all vodka’s on, namely if you’re not better of comparable than we don’t want to deal with you. This has since changed with Three Olives much ore competitive price, but Ketel One is a good barometer for vodka.
Tonight is a new contender for the Buffalo Lounge’s official vodka that we discovered at PAX East. Normally you don’t think vodka when someone mentions Great Britain, you think of gin; however to make a great gin you must first make good vodka, and then of course do some things with juniper and citrus, but this is about Vodka.
GENTLEMEN! Behold the raw awesome power of Russian Import vodka that is above the “standard” Vodka that when we few men stand in the aisles of liquor stores decide we want something better than the usual. Vodka that warms our hearts and bellies by it’s mere presence and taste. Ladies and Gentlemen, Hammer + Sickle.
Its Vodka week again in booze reviews, and I am the man called Justice and this week I’ll be revealing to you a vodka that turned out to be all balls and no shaft: Effen Vodka (aka Effenol). This hilariously named vodka was provided to use by our guest reviewer this week Jesse, aka “the sweatta vest”. Throw it back and grit your teeth, Effenol is coming your way.
