After receiving numerous requests in our forum for some sort of BoozeBasher blind taste testing of liquor, we decided to make a few purchases and gather the vodka bottles we had around our homes for a vodka tasting.  It worked out pretty nicely.  We ended up with two top-shelf (Cîroc & Grey Goose), three middle-shelf (Smirnoff Red, Tanqueray Sterling, & Stolichnaya), and two bottom-shelf (Monoplowa & Burnett’s) offerings.  I know we haven’t reviewed many of them yet, but reviews are on the way for all of them.  

     We poured two shots of each vodka into different numbered glasses and shuffled them all.  The numbers were attached face-down, and a master list was hidden until after the test.  All four of us were tasked with tasting all seven vodkas and ranking them in ascending order, with one being the best-tasting vodka and seven being the worst-tasting vodka.  We did not discuss or share anything with each other until after we had all written down our results.  We were a little surpised by the results…

Results by Reviewer

Vodka	Kevin	Wade	Dan	Hunter	Average
Cîroc	3	1	1	1	1.5
Smirnoff Red	1	3	5	2	2.75
Grey Goose	2	4	2	4	3.0
Tanqueray Sterling	4	2	3	3	3.0
Monoplowa	5	7	4	5	5.25
Stolichnaya	6	5	6	6	5.75
Burnett’s	7	6	7	7	6.75

     As you can see, Cîroc was the clear favorite.  That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who frequents this site since we selected it as our liquor of the month back in December of ‘07.  It’s very smooth and has quite the pleasant sweet finish that we have come to adore.  On the flip side, Burnett’s was the clear loser in the tasting.  That also wasn’t a huge surprise if you go back and look at our review, you can see that it tastes much better when mixed than straight.

    The Stolichnaya was a bit of a disappointment. We have always thought pretty highly of Stoli, but it consistently received a low ranking. The biggest surprise to us though was the Smirnoff Red.  I remember hearing years ago that it won several big blind taste tests alongside “premium” vodka, but I never put much thought into it.  Smirnoff was the first alcohol I ever consumed.  I moved on from it, and for some reason, I’ve always had a bit of a misconception that it is a bad vodka.  What’s funny is that nearly everyone else in the tasting claimed to not like Smirnoff as well.  It was actually quite smooth and had decent flavor for a room temperature vodka.  We were almost embarassed by voting this spirit so high, but there really must be something to it if we all voted it high on our lists.  I challenge our readers to try a similar experiment and share the results on our forum. 

     The blind tasting was a fun experience, but in future blind tastings, we plan on testing no more than four of five spirits.  After tasting so many spirits several times, your taste buds really lose their sharpness.  We also found that two shots was a little too much to pour, but Wade and I had no problem consuming the leftovers.  It’s funny how preceptions can often be wrong. I hope our results are helpful in some way. 

     You know you’ve seen the bottle a thousand times but were too afraid to buy it.  Well, have no fear!  The crew here at BoozeBasher are always up for trying new things once, twice, well…until we can remember what actually happened.  Now we are branching out to bring you that radioactive yellow-colored liqueur review that you’ve been craving.  Not only does Galliano have an eye-catching color, but it also comes in a very distinct-looking bottle.  It’s tall and slender with flat edges, very much like a Roman column.  It’s a fitting look for an Italian spirit. 

     Galliano is an herb liqueur made from a variety of herbs, spices, berries, and flowers.  Sources say it contains at least 30 different ones; that in no way rivals Jägermeister’s 56, but it’s still a lot!  The original recipe dates back to 1896, as stated on the bottle, from a brandy producer named Arturo Vaccari.  He named his creation after Maggiore Galliano, hero of the East African wars of the 19th century.  There is surprisingly little information available out there on this unique liqueur.

     When cracking open the seal and taking a sniff, you pick up right away on the anise, licorice, and alcohol smells.  If you back off a little, you will notice the sweet scents of berries and vanilla.  To tell the truth, I was not prepared for what was to follow.  The taste hits you up front with a sweet licorice flavor that lingers for a few seconds.  The taste dissipates nicely after a couple seconds into what can only be described as “ooooh!”  I think that was the same reaction from everyone who tried it.  It was surprising with its sweet, refreshing, candy-like finish.  Galliano really is like nothing I’ve ever tasted.  Hell, even the ladies loved it!

     We had a hard time trying to decide what to mix with this delicious liqueur, so we went with the old Sprite stand-by.  Wow!  Now that’s a tasty beverage.  The carbonation and citrus of the Sprite really add to the variety of licorice and berry flavors.  The mixer cuts down a little on the licorice flavor and leaves you with a fantastically refreshing drink. 

     I had no problem putting down four of these in a hurry, and I doubt anyone will.  Galliano is the godfather of delicious. Plus, at a 30% alcohol content, this liqueur is no slouch, and it proceeded to give me a nice buzz.  I felt great, and the buzz carried through for a good while.  The only downside to the whole experience was the next morning.  I woke up with quite the headache.  I blame it on the high sugar content and the crazy combination of herbs and spices.

    Galliano rings up at $36 for a 750mL bottle.  While this might seem a little pricey for a liqueur, I guarantee it’s worth every penny.  If you’ve never tried Galliano, I highly recommend you and your nearest lady friend (or random girl/guy in a nearby bar) do so immediately.  You will really impress that lucky person with your sophisticated taste in imported liqueurs.  He or she will love the taste, and who knows, maybe you by assoication.  There is the chance your drinking buddy may just walk off into the sunset with the bottle, but that’s just something you are going to have to risk.

Sipability - 7.0

Mixability - 8.0

Drunkability - 6.5

Hangover-ability - 4.0

Bang for the Buck - 3.0

Chick appeal - 9.0

Overall - 6.5 

     Unless you’ve been living as a hermit in a cave sans contact with the outside world for the last fifty years or so, you’ve heard of Bacardi.  Founded in 1862, Bacardi is the world’s largest privately held, family-owned spirits company, and they sell over 200 million bottles per year in 200 countries.  Bacardi rums really gained popularity in the U.S. during prohibition.  During this time, Facundo Bacardi was known to have invited Americans to “Come to Cuba and bathe in Bacardi rum.”  I can only imagine how good that would sound if I were forced to be liquor-free by a cold and misguided government.  Hell, I might have turned Communist as soon I read those glorious words.

     Bacardi Select (previously known as Bacardi Black Label) is a blend of select aged rums that are charcoal filtered for smoothness before mellowing in oak barrels.  It’s a dark amber in color and is medium-full bodied.  They claim a very complex palate containing notes of caramel, toffee, honey, and even leather.  The finish is supposed to be buttery and long with an oaky taste.  That sounds pretty promising for a rum that will only cost you $17 for 750ml, so we put it through our BoozeBasher tests.

     The smell of Bacardi Select is rather pungent.  After a sniff, there is no doubt that the dark-colored liquid in the bottle contains alcohol.  After repeated sniffings and a few burned nose hairs, some of the intricacies of the aroma, like the toffee and honey, become more apparent.  However, the alcohol smell still overpowers everything.  The taste of Bacardi Select on the rocks really runs along the same lines.  All of the infused flavors mesh together and assault your taste-buds at the same time with a bit of a burn.  There is just too much flavor up front, and the taste quickly gives way to an extremely long finish.  This might be a good thing if the the rum were to finish as advertised.  Unfortunately for Bacardi, it really doesn’t.  I didn’t notice much if any butteriness in the finish, and the slight barrel taste was utterly consumed by a dirty metallic flavor that lingered far after the sip.  The aftertaste just ruined the sipping experience for me because it made it taste like a cheap and unrefined rum.  The taste is still far better than RonRico, but that’s not saying much.  I wouldn’t recommend drinking Bacardi Select on the rocks.

     Hoping for a good mixing experience, we mixed Bacardi Select with cola.  The cola really didn’t do much to quell the dirty metallic taste.  It took away some of the bite and burn, but it really just seemed to water down the beverage.  The taste is adequate for a rum and cola, but you can make a much better one for about the same price using Flor de Caña Gold.  I supposed mixing Bacardi Select makes it easier to drink, which is quite important for anyone looking to feel the happy tingle of intoxication.

     A shining bright spot in the assessment of Bacardi Select is its ability to bring that happy tingle.  In Select’s case, it’s more like a blissful numbness.  This rum excels in the intoxication department, even for an 80-proof liquor.  The drunk it gave me was very sloppy, and slurred speech was prevalent.  The effects of this spirit were very similar to what I have come to expect from tequila.  For all you kiddies out there, I wouldn’t recommend bringing this stuff to a frat party unless you feel like cleaning blood, broken sandals, and ripped pink polos up the next morning.

     You definitely wouldn’t be happy helping with the cleanup efforts the next day if you partook in drinking a resonable amount of Bacardi Select with the soon-to-be-violent fraternity boys.  The hangover for me was a total killer.  My head felt as if it were being pounded with a massive sledgehammer.  My mouth and throat were both so dry that it almost hurt, and the nausea had me fearing that I would soon be praying to a porcelain alter for most of the next day.  This rum is a weekend beverage, plain and simple.  Although Bacardi Select was an overall disappointment, the high drunkability factor and the consumable mixed taste might make it appealing to some drinkers.  If you are craving some rum and a hardcore buzz, you may want to try Bacardi Select; just don’t say I didn’t warn you about the death that is sure to follow.  

Sipability - 5.5

Mixability - 6.5

Drunkability - 8.0

Hangover-ability - 3.0

Bang for the Buck - 7.0

Overall - 6.0