LiV Vodka

Bill Dowd photo

Long Island lost the vast majority of its farms when the post-World War II housing boom sent streams of people east from New York City and in from other states in search of affordable housing from the late 1940s well into the early '60s. Luckily, the famous Long Island potato survived on the still-agricultural far eastern points of the island. Here's one reason I use the word "luckily."

• LiV Vodka

LiV rhymes with "5," and has that many influences. Not the vodka itself. That's 100% Long Island potatoes, which immediately puts it into the super-premium category, as well as the gluten-free category an increasing number of consumers look for. But it does have (1.) German-made stills, (2.) tamper-proof tin wrapping caps from Portugal, (3.) a brushed aluminum-topped Italian cork, (4.) a bottle made of French glass with painted labels, and (5.) branded, custom wooden shipping cases made of Western pine.

Those are a combination of positive conceits and marketing strategies. But, as always in this game, it's what's inside that in the final analysis trumps everything else.

Company founders Richard Stabile and Dan Pollicino have nothing to be concerned about. LiV gets your attention immediately with its slightly citrusy nose, its pleasing oiliness and its hints of grapefruit and rose petals. No need even to chill LiV as one tends to do to other vodkas to bring out its nuances. Properly crafted potato vodkas tend to stand on their own without a lot of temperature tweaking by the drinker.

I'd put LiV right into the top echelon of potato vodkas I've sampled in recent years -- Chopin from Poland, Cirrus from Virginia, 44˚North from Idaho.

Suggested retail price: $38 for the 750ml bottle.

[Note: This review originally was posted in August 2008 when LiV was available only in a very limited area. It is being re-posted because the distiller has just announced a distribution deal with Winebow Inc., the third largest distributor in New York State, to sell LiV not only in New York, but also in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington DC.]

Go back to Dowd On Drinks

Belvedere IX

Belvedere Vodka is not one of the pack that comes up with new products seemingly every few months. But when it does add to its portfolio, it does so with a flourish.

• Belvedere IX

Two years ago, in a private tasting lunch in New York with Plymouth Gin master distiller Sean Harrison, we were discussing the popularity of vodka compared to gin. He admitted there were some very good vodkas on the market that presented huge hurdles for gin to clear in its attempt at a comeback. However, he noted of the continual tinkering with vodka recipes, "If they keep on going, pretty soon they'll invent gin."

Well, they have. At least Belvedere, the Polish distiller, has, even though it is calling its new creation vodka.

Vodka and gin both begin as neutral spirits, but gin departs from that by the addition of various botanicals, predominantly juniper berries which provide its major taste component. Vodka often is changed by flavor infusions such as fruits, but not usually by any complicated botanical recipe.

Belvedere IX (pronounced "one X") has nine flavor additions to its base -- guarana, ginger, ginseng, acai, eucalyptus, cinnamon leaf, almond, jasmine and black cherry. Belvedere can call it a vodka all it wants, but to me it's a gin. And a damned tasty one.

Cold from several hours in the freezer, IX is an absolute delight sipped straight. The menthol-like coolness of the eucalyptus comes through immediately, with the zip of the ginger evident on tongue and palate. A vague hint of black cherry comes in on the finish. A lot of very distinct flavors somehow fusing into one pleasing one.

This is a very special "vodka" I'd recommend drinking very cold, as I did, and without fussing with it. It's meant to be part of a cocktail recipe, say its makers, but I don't know that I'd go that route immediately. The proprietary recipe, and the base vodka made from the signature Dankowskie Gold rye of Poland, has resulted in a fine product all on its own merits.

The company, named for the country's presidential palace, just this week launched Belvedere IX in club circles in conjunction with Parisian graffiti artist Andre Saraiva who designed the label -- a "tagged" glossy black bottle with electric pink graffiti, reinventing the trademark palace and trees as a nighttime vision.

Suggested retail price: Not yet set. If it's not immediately available in your favorite spirits shop, be patient. It will be by spring.

Go back to Dowd On Drinks