Pinnacle Vodka Appreciation Month : Week 1 : Berry Flavor

And so begins our first special run of posts. This month, granted it is not actually September yet, will be dedicated one of, if not the best distributors of flavored vodkas. Some will favor better than others, but none of it will be because of personal bias. By that, I mean that if anything tastes like raspberry, it’s not going to lose points because I hate raspberry. It’s actually why I chose this flavor to review first.

Review :

Pinnacle has over 30 flavors of their vodka. I so far have found about 9 in my city. However, they are distributed by BevMo, so if you want a flavor that they do not have on the shelf, they are able to special order from their distributors. On to the berry. I have to say that initially, the berry was my least favorite. I am not a “Berry” person generally. If you do like berry flavored stuff, you might enjoy it. I tend to mix my flavored vodkas with sprite as I think that it tends to mellow out the vodka burn you get, while maintaining the integrity of the flavor. It definitely helped in this case. Later, my roommate suggested that I mix in some of the whipped cream flavor as well, and hot damn! Those two together tasted dead on a fucking creamsicle. I was utterly impressed. As usual, since it is flavored, all of these will come up to 35% alcohol (70 proof), but the flavor itself makes the experience worth it. This was one flavor that I have not seen at all BevMo stores, but luckily, if you ARE looking for it or any other flavor, the Pinnacle website has a store locator that actually works! They also allow you to enter your zip code and contact distributors directly.


Breakdown :

The Bottle : Pinnacle has a standard bottle, shocking. They do get points however, for their bottle being a different colored glass, and for having an easily identifiable picture, allowing you to know what flavor you are purchasing.

Score : 15

The Taste : As a shot, this stuff is decent. Lots of Berry flavor, but you also have a strong vodka presence. I recommend mixing with Sprite, Sprite and the whipped cream flavored Pinnacle, or even lemonade for best results.

Score : 25

The Buzz : I am able to polish off a whole bottle of this stuff, no problem. Extremely mellow buzz, and since it mixes well with other flavors, you can grab 3 or 4 different bottles and mix and match.

Score : 25

The Cost : At Bevmo, I get a bottle for around $11. What can I say, it pays to be a clubBev member. At another liquor store, I did find it and paid about $13. Both prices are pretty standard for vodka, let alone a flavored one. All other things considered though, this stuff is a steal for the BevMo price.

Score : 20

Total Score : 85

I have to admit that part of my making September into “Pinnacle Vodka Appreciation Month”, was because of the awesome flavors, and the other part was because it wasn’t a pain in the ass to get like the Glazed Donut stuff. Either way, what started as me wanting to find another way to lambaste that other company, turned into me finding what I think is an excellent product. Definitely check out Pinnacle’s website and see if any of the flavors catch your eye. Or just stay tuned to this blog, because for the rest of September, we will only be reviewing Pinnacle products.

Cheers.

Smirnoff Watermelon Vodka

First, big announcement. The month of September is going to be “Pinnacle Vodka Appreciation Month”. We will only be reviewing Pinnacle products, and who knows, maybe even have a contest. Either way, we will have a new review next week as usual, but after that, it will be a new Pinnacle product every week until October. So stay tuned, especially if the contest thing works out. Now, new review.

Review :

I have to say, that aside from the Glazed Donut vodka, I hadn’t really been too keen on drinking flavored vodkas. I always prefer a straight vodka to the flavored ones strictly because of things like alcohol content, and how well they go with coke. I do like watermelon flavor though, so I decided to try this one out. Rather than coke though, I went with fruit punch Gatorade. Must say, the initial shot I usually take when opening a new bottle, sucked. It tasted like someone dumped a bottle of rubbing alcohol on a piece of watermelon, and I just took a big ole’ bite. Mixed however, was a different story. I usually have about a 50/50 ratio of alcohol to mixers when making my drinks, so there was still some of the alcohol burn, but the watermelon came through much better. I don’t know if this is just because it is a Smirnoff product, or because I used too much alcohol, or even because I was drinking it with Gatorade, but there was a lot more burn that when I usually mix drinks with my alcohol. A little surprising because like most flavored drinks, it is only 35% alcohol (70 proof). I have seen this at most grocery stores, so you should not have a problem finding it. If you do decide to get it, you  might want to find a mixer that compliments Watermelon, because I know the Gatorade thing is not for everyone.

Breakdown

The Bottle : Still the same standard Smirnoff bottle. Except that the label was a lighter red, or almost pink color.

Score : 5

The Taste : Straight shots : This stuff is gross. Mixed drinks : I can see an appeal, and thought it was pretty freaking good.

Score : 20

The Buzz : I finished the whole bottle. Had me pretty buzzed by the end of the night. Worked out great too because there was a new episode of Grimm on that night.

Score : 20

The Cost : I got my bottle at the grocery store, it was on sale for about $12. Pretty cheap, but probably a great addition to a big batch of Jungle Juice or something.

Score : 15

Total Score : 60

Not very highly rated. Mostly because I have been spoiled over the years with great tasting vodkas, and moved away from the Smirnoff vodkas of my youth. Other than drinking it straight up, it is pretty tasty, and something I would ;probably get again.

Cheers.

Johnny Walker Double Black

Oooooh, Fancy stuff strikes again.

Review :

I had to do a bit of research on this product, mostly because I got hooked up with a free bottle. Suck it retailers that don’t carry such items, and thank you Ozzy. What  found in my searches was that there weren’t as many reviews of this stuff as you might think their would be for an item that is labeled as a “Limited Edition”. What is supposed to set this one apart from the standard black label Johnny Walker is that is a blend of west coast whiskey, and is supposed to be more “Smokey” than that standard black. Having had the black and now the double black, I can say job well done. This product is definitely smokey, and actually a bit more smooth than the standard black. Obviously it is a bit more expensive than the black, but you can kind of expect that because again, it is a limited edition. Or is it? Also during my research, I had found that you used to be only able to get this at airport duty free shops, but then expanded to a global launch. So it SHOULD be available at places that you would be able to find your Johnny Walker any other day. This bottle is a pretty standard 40% alcohol by volume (80 Proof), and comes in a pretty cool box that looks like it has a wood finish. I drank my bottle on the rocks, and had a few mixed with coke. Both would probably be the ideal way to drink it.

Breakdown :

The Bottle : Like Everything else apparently, Johnny Walker has a standard bottle style. The thing that kind of set this one apart for me was the design of the label. It is obviously a bit more fancy looking than say a Jim Beam label. Also, the box I mentioned. Granted, it is an extra step to go through to enjoy your whiskey, but it gives it a cool presentation, and makes it a perfect gift item.

Score : 20

The Taste : Smokey, and smooth. My friend told me that he preferred it over the Johnny Walker Blue, I’ll have to agree. Although, I still prefer the taste of the Red, especially mixed with Ginger Ale. This was a great bottle to drink on the rocks, and given the price, it’s a great value for that classic Johnny Walker flavor.

Score : 25

The Buzz : I got smashed. It hit me like a ton of bricks. It was awesome. It took about an hour or so to actually hit me, but when it did, I was swimming.

Score : 20


The Cost : This product will run you between $50 and $70, depending on where you get it from. It is available to order if you cannot find it anywhere as well. Considering that the same sized bottle of Johnny Walker blue will cost you about 3 times what this costs, it might be a way better substitution. Still a little pricy for some people, but in my opinion, worth it if you are a scotch whiskey fan.

Score : 20

Total Score : 85

Now I know that this has been the highest reviewed product on this blog. I actually bothered to check. It isn’t going to be everyone cup of tea, but for the people who are fans, this is a great item.

Cheers.

360 Brand Glazed Donut Vodka

Let me just say, that finding this stuff was a bitch. My biggest complaint about it has been trying to fucking find it. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you can read about it here.

Review :

Aside from the major pain in the ass that it was to finally get this stuff, including the time that it took waiting for it to ship, after a total of 39 days after it’s release, I was able to get a bottle of this stuff. Let me say, the first shot that I took once we cracked open the bottle tasted amazing. It was dead on the flavor of a glazed donut. It had no after taste, but was intensely sweet. Obviously because it was a flavored vodka, there was slightly less alcohol content, it was 35% alcohol by volume (70 proof). I avoided mixing this with my usual bottle of coke. Instead, we made White Russians, and mixed it with the bottled Starbucks drinks for the coffee and donut flavor. Not as good as drinking it neat, but pretty decent. Now, as for availability, If you did not click on the linked post, I will give you a quick rundown. Apparently, you cannot find this stuff on the West Coast. The 360 vodka website has a store locator, so you can see if they have it anywhere near you. Don’t bother asking the company for any help if you can’t find a place that carries it on there, all they will tell you is to ask someone to special order it for you. If you can’t find it on their store locator, check out www.wincechateau.com. I was able to find it there, and quite honestly they had the lowest shipping rate.

Breakdown :

The Bottle : 360 has a pretty nifty standard bottle. They all have a cap with a rubber gasket and locking mechanism, like you might have seen on some micro-brewery beer bottles. I found that this kept the scent from attracting ants, and actually kept the vodka cool. So, points for them.

Score : 15

The Taste : Like I said, straight up, and it tastes like a donut. It actually has me wondering what some of the other flavors taste like. I don’t know if I will bother reviewing any of them though, just because I already know what kind of a headache that I will get trying to find them.

Score : 25

The Buzz : I actually didn’t get so much of a buzz, but definitely passed out. This stuff tastes great, so you want to drink a lot of it quickly. I wouldn’t really call it much of a buzz.

Score : 10

The Cost : Unless you can find it at a local store, or one of them is willing to order it for no extra charge, get ready to pay out of your ass. The bottle itself retails for about $17, which is a reasonable for a bottle of vodka. However, if you have to order it like I did, you are also going to be paying an out of state sales tax and a shipping price. This brought my total expense up to almost $40. This stuff is good, but if they had provided me any kind of assistance in actually finding this crap, or if any of the liquor store owners in my city weren’t dicks, I could have bought 2 bottles and a bag of chips. So if you don’t live where this stuff is readily available, the only excuse I can give you as to why you would pay so much for it is general curiosity.

Score : 0

Total Score : 50

Here again is my reasoning for being pissy about this brand. Link. As for everything else, it does taste great, and if you want to try it, go for it. At least you can say that you did.

Cheers.

No Update

You might have noticed that there hasn't been a review since the Devil's Cut. No, I didn't die, and no, I haven't already gone through every product at the liquor store yet. The reason for the lack of an update is simple. I am in protest. I am protesting 360 vodka. I literally went to every single place that sells alcohol in my city. It took me an entire week to do, but I did it. In all of these places, guess how many of them carried the Glazed Donut Vodka? Better yet, guess how many carried ANY 360 products, or even knew what the hell it was? One. There was one place that had 360 products. Not the Glazed Donut, which is getting great reviews from what I have seen, but a whopping selection of 3 of their vodkas. I have emailed and facebooked these people asking if there was anywhere near me to buy their products. Their response? Ask your local liquor stores to special order it. So I do. The two places that were even willing to do so were not able to get the specific flavor I requested, because it is apparently "Unavailable in most markets". I try the company again, hoping to find out that there is some online store where I can find their product, and I got the same answer as before. So I took it upon myself to find an online liquor store that would be able to ship me this product. For a $17 bottle of vodka, apparently the shipping cost is about $20. That's right, $37 for a bottle of vodka that retails for $17. All because the geniuses that make this garbage couldn't provide me with any help, other than "Ask someone else". I paid it. I am currently waiting for it to arrive from the other side of the country. I will try it, and I will review it. I cannot guarantee that my review will not contain harsh language, or some completely liable statements about 360 vodka, but I will review it. Until I receive my order, I will not be posting any reviews, because frankly, the idea that I had to jump through so many hoops for one fucking bottle just makes all the liquor I have had since ordering it taste like bile. I don't know if finally trying this stuff will make me feel better about the whole situation, but I guess we will have to wait and see. Until then, I have been trying other stuff, I do have other reviews to post, but they are being pushed back, because of what is apparently the Greatest fucking vodka ever. So, keep an eye out. Hopefully I will be back in the swing of things this week.