Belvedere Single Estate Rye: Smogóry Forest

N: Clean, bit of very distant rye bread. P: Shockingly smooth, very sweet, huge depth of rye bread broken open on a winter afternoon and eaten outside. Really rich and creamy mouthfeel. Just no bite, at all. Like drinking silk. F: Fades rapidly into a pleasantly sweet gentle linger. I'm not much of a vodka person, mostly due to the American mantra of "flavorless, colorless, odorless." Here, then, is Poland's response to the rest of the West. A single estate rye vodka that has depth, character, and nuance. Absolutely stunning. I'll leave some headroom in case I ever stumble across a better vodka, but I doubt it. 4.75 (read that as 5)

Creamy feeling with flavors of grain, bread, some spice. Grain and toasted bread linger long on the finish. Worth every penny.

Excellent for a dry martini. I wouldn’t use this vodka as a mixer. Rich flavor coats your mouth. You can taste the grain.

Strange to describe a vodka as “melt-in-your-mouth” but that is exactly what this is. Smooth, sweet, and buttery.

Mildly sweet, very clean. Surprisingly pleasant to drink straight. Exceptionally smooth.

Light spice on the nose. Peppered bread dough on the palate. Very good.