The Albertson’s Liquor Store Going Out of Business Sale
Introduction:
Not too long ago, a few of us BoozeBashers managed to take part in the pillaging of a local liquor store’s “going out of business / clearance sale.” That’s right; we briefly lived the moment that all die hard liquor lovers dream about. Unfortunately, the spoils could have been much greater and valuable had we reacted sooner, but oh well. It was fun. We took the opportunity to serve you all by daring to do something many of you are terrified of; spending money on expensive, widely unknown brands of liquor. Well, everything was marked down 50%, so it wasn’t too bad. Enjoy!
Part 1: Roth California Vodka
Browsing through rows of unknown liquor bottles was quite a stressful experience. It was like inspecting row upon row of Victoria’s Secret models and only being able to take a few home with you. Well, we chose to the best of our abilities and broke the one rule our parents told us over and over again. Never judge a liquor by its bottle. Roth does come in a nice looking bottle that made me think of a piece of candy. How could I go wrong? It has to taste good. After all, Roth vodka is the self-proclaimed “America’s First Luxury Vodka,” distilled five times to a proof of 80 from premium California grapes, and produced by Beam Wine Estates Inc.
I’m proud to say that after several reviews, I can finally join the rest of the BoozeBasher staff and take credit for saving the world from a terrible bottle of liquor. We had high expectations, and we were let down hard because we purchased not one, but two bottles of this stuff. After popping the top with lots of excitement, we noticed a scent similar to nail polish remover. In an instant, hope began to fade, but we remained optimistic about the taste test on the rocks. Along with hope, optimism was quickly lost at the touch of the pallet. Have you ever tasted nail polish remover? I hope not. Imagine how it might taste, and that’s probably very close to what Roth vodka tastes like on the rocks. There is a slight sent of flavor right before a sip, but the intense alcohol/nail polish remover taste kills it and adds a bitter aftertaste to kick you while you’re already down.
Okay, Roth has to get better with a mixer, right? We generally like to mix vodka with a dash of Sprite, so that’s what we chose. The bad taste was still there. The mix took away a little bite, but the nail polish taste and bitter aftertaste were still present. It might just take something strong like bloody marry mix to cover the taste, but for a high dollar vodka such as this, that idea is ludacris. A good vodka should be sipable on the rocks. A moderate vodka is sipable when lightly mixed. Roth vodka is neither. I guess we are going to have to find something to do with these two bottles. Maybe we can take them to a party and just leave them. I already tried pouring Roth shots for friends during a football game. I haven’t heard from them since. If you want to piss your friends off, pour them a shot of Roth vodka. The sour faces are priceless!
This is the part I was dreading to write since I actually had to get drunk of the stuff. I prepared plenty of water and pain killers for the aftermath. Here it goes. Once I finally got around to it, I manned up and took on the wrath of the Roth. During the Auburn vs Vandy and OSU vs Wisconsin games, I managed to choke down four vodka and 7up drinks. The first two were absolutely horrible, but into the third I suppose the alcohol was dulling my senses. The last ones went down a bit better. When it was all said and done, I had a nasty taste in my mouth, but I was borderline drunk. Overall, it was a tame night, staying out of the bars and not mixing any other alcohol with the Roth. Judging from the smell and taste of Roth, I was fearing the worst if I continued past four drinks. Before bed, I took all the precautions by drinking plenty of water. The next morning was nothing out of the ordinary. I woke up alone with mild dehydration although I imagine it would have been severe if I drank much more. How typical. I must say I was glad to have the Roth behind me. Now the only issue that remains is what to do with the rest of the bottle.
That is the happy ending of part 1. I hope the remaining parts turn out better. For those of you who actually like this stuff, please feel free to comment or suggest ways to make it taste better. After all, we might be stuck with these two bottles for awhile. We’d really like to hear from the ones who actually paid the $40 or so for a 750ml bottle of this stuff. For the rest of you who may decide to try if for yourself, good luck!
Sipability - 4.0
Mixability - 5.0
Drunkability - 6.0
Hangover-ability - 5.0
Bang for the Buck - 1.0
Overall - 5.0 
Comments
you could try putting it to use elsewhere. pour it on your boo-boos, use it to disinfect the toilet after a wild weekend, give it to a relative you don’t particularly like. it’s multi-use!
If you think Roth Vodka is bad you should try Vladimir Vodka.Yes it is the cheap stuff for 7 bucks for a liter.But I double dog dare you to not only try it but review it on the boozebasher website.Good Luck…..you are going to need it.
Tom, that sounds like a challenge. Who knows, maybe we’ll save a few lives by reviewing it. We’ll keep an eye out for it next trip to the store.
You know you are a hardcore drinker when you start comparing your bottles of joy to Victoria Secret models. Nice.
Paco,it is a challenge.It is so bad that it is a popular thing to run it through a Brita filter a few times just to make it taste have decent.http://www.bulletinboardforum.com/m/vodka.php
Please review it.Save a few lives with the review!!
that’s crazy! we’ll have to give it a try when we get caught up with our reviews.
Rotflmfao maybe a better challenge is finishing a full bottle of this Vladimir vodka and writing the review while drunk from it! Just remember to use spell check!
right, and if the review never gets posted i guess that will mean i died in the process.
Kellianne, if you can finish a bottle then you must be a god.Spell check is a necessity while drunk on it.
Paco,You are right.God bless you for even thinking of reviewing it
I haven’t tired roth before, but when drink burnetts( not the best vodka ever) its ussualy pretty good in Juice, like cranberry, bluebery-pomegranite, or OJ.
Burnett’s is much better than Roth to me. Roth is also expensive. I can’t believe they feel it is worth that price. I wonder if anyone has ever made a repeat purchase of this garbage?
Try running Roth through the Brita filter a few times. If that fails, burn off some of the alcohol with a lighter.
Worst case scenario: You pour a 40$ bottle of vodka down the drain and nothing of value is lost.
As I mentioned in the Ciroc review, I liked Roth better. I’m not a vodka drinker, I know Scotch. Roth always treated me pretty well, I have a bottle. I can’t confess I’ve made a repeat purchase but that’s because I’m a Scotch drinker. Vodka sits for far longer.
Sorry if I’m not on the cool kid’s bandwagon but Roth isn’t that bad. Did everyone who complained actually try it?
I hope that the same people that swear running vodka through a filter makes it better didn’t also suggest this was a bad vodka. The filter thing? Yeah, it doesn’t work. It shouldn’t work either, according to science. I think the Mythbusters crushed that one, so did a few other review sites.
Roth isn’t that bad. It is sort-of expensive. If $40 scares you to take a risk, don’t buy it.
KW
Kyle, I’m glad you like it and I’m sure the makers of Roth are glad too. I haven’t been able to find anyone around here that will finish the bottle i’ve had floating around for months now. Oh well, some drunk will inherit it. If you don’t mind spending that much, I must recommend Hangar One.
thanks for the comment
Tom, i haven’t forgot the Vladimir Vodka challenge. I actually tried to look for it the past few trips to the store but haven’t had any luck. I must admit, I’m thankful of that but i will keep a look out
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