solid with a pickle

This is a review of Spasskaya Dal’ Original vodka from Russia. I sampled it in Russia in 2010. It’s clear, 40% alcohol, and I thought it was alright.

I hardly ever chill my vodka, because I want it to retain its original taste. If you got your hands on a shitty brand and you just want to get drunk, then you can put it in the freezer and enjoy shots that feel like ice-water. But I don’t enjoy doing that.

This one, I had it at room temperature, with some Russian pickles and some bread and some clear water as a chaser.

Like a boss.

are these poisonous elements okay?

I tried to find some information about Spasskaya Dal’ Original vodka online, but even when I entered it in Russian (Спасская Даль Оригинальная) there wasn’t a website or even a Facebook profile to go to.

Instead I found this – an analysis of the poisonous substances in this vodka:

Not sure what these values of Arsen and Mercury mean. I guess it’s… alright I hope?

the design gods are weeping

One thing I liked about Spasskaya Dal’ Original vodka is that it’s produced in the area of Vladivostok, where I was spending my summer at the time.

The bottle had a lack of design that could have been either charmingly rustic or just plain ugly. On that particular day, I thought it was a bit on the latter side, but not too much. Semi-ugly I’d say. The pricing was good – around 10€ for 700ml.

Spasskaya Dal’ Original doesn’t need to chill

This vodka worked out well with the pickles and the bread on the side. It turned out that Spasskaya Dal’ Original vodka was surprisingly smooth – it went down the throat easily, not fighting on its way down. The aftertaste was good, too. It seemed like solid quality, nothing awesome though.

Overall, Spasskaya Dal’ Original vodka was better than the bottle design seemed to suggest. Not sure if the brand is still around, but on that lazy afternoon in Russia’s Far East I was having a good time with it.