Vladivar Vodka is a drink which always seems to be on sale. I can’t think of a time when I’ve bought it and it hasn’t been reduced in price. I guess it’s like the DFS sales where you would feel ripped off if you somehow managed to pay full price. This bottle of Vladivar cost £12 and has an alcohol content of 37.5%. It’s more expensive than Glen’s but I remember it tasting slightly better.
Healthy and nutritious
Vladivar comes in a plain glass bottle with a load of Vs embossed around the top. I had always assumed that this vodka was meant to be Romanian or Russian but the back bottle says it’s Scottish, which was unexpected. The back also claims that the bottle contains 28 measures but in reality it would be lucky if it made even half that. The front label is hard to read as it has a black font on a reflective cyan background, meaning you can’t make anything out unless you’re in the right light. Luckily all it contains is the standard description of the sophistication and excellence of the vodka, something a drunk isn’t going to care about reading.
Vladivar doesn’t smell great but it is much tamer than other cheap vodkas. There is a slight petrol smell, but it can easily be ignored. Tastewise, Vladivar is quite a neutral drink. There’s a very minimal taste of what I can only describe as smoky or oaky which is strange but also quite nice. After a while of drinking, Vladivar begins to develop a plasticy cardboard taste. It isn’t completely disgusting, but I’ve never licked an envelope and thought “Yum! I hope there’s more!”. I think I read something about peppermint somewhere but I don’t notice anything minty. There are maybe mild tones of bland toothpaste in the taste, although I’m probably just imagining that while trying to detect peppermint.
I was expecting Vladivar Vodka to taste like a slightly less shitty cheap vodka, but it is much better than that. Vladivar is similar to Kulov or maybe better. This is a vodka which you can drink straight without needing to cover up a horrible boot polish taste by drowning it with a mixer. At £12, Vladivar is cheaper and tastier than most other bottom shelf vodkas, and I’d probably consider buying it even if it wasn’t on sale.
Booze Review rating: 8/10 deliciouses
