Very Cherry! (Finlandia Vodka)

Member Name: collingwood21

Product:	Finlandia Vodka
Date:	15/10/02 (729 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very tasty, Mixes well with cola and cranberry juice, Quality product

Disadvantages: Not very widely available

OK, confession time. The following opinion is not actually about Finlandia Cranberry Vodka - although it does sound a most tasty tipple. Due to the recent problems of having new categories added to dooyoo (which I am sure you must be familiar with by now), I am having to take a few liberties here; I am simply not prepared to spend any more time waiting for my suggestion to be processed. My review is actually on Friary Vintners Cherry Velvet vodka, and this is the nearest category I could find - I hope you understand. If you are that desperate to read about cranberry vodka, you will just have to go elsewhere I'm afraid! :-)

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Hands up anyone who has ever drunk flavoured vodka. Hmmm, quite a few of you then. Perhaps you have stuck to the Absolut Mandarin, or ventured into one of those vodka bars that seem to be springing up in every major city at the moment. Perhaps you have been to Scandinavia or Poland and tried the flavours produced in these countries but which are hard to buy in the UK. Personally, my experience with the flavoured stuff started when some irresponsible individual took it upon themselves to let me loose in Revolution, Newcastle's very own vodka bar. ;-)

One of the gorgeous flavours I tried during my first night there was Polish cherry vodka, mixed with coke to produce a "cherry cola for adults" cocktail. Oh, and it was good. For a long time after that I scoured supermarkets, off-licenses and internet retailers for some elusive cherry vodka but failed in my attempt to buy any - noone other than the bars seemed to import it into the UK. Although I do hear you can get Absolute Cherry in Sweden.

This was until three weeks ago, however, when I made a chance discovery whilst shopping in the Gateshead Metro Centre. Tucked into the dark recesses of the mall is a rather good little shop called Old Fizzywig
9;s that sells all manner of specialist food and drink. I was looking at the fruit wines and wondering whether raspberry or apricot wine would be nicest, when my eyes passed before a display of products from a small company called Friary Vintners.

Now, I had never heard of this company, and I doubt any of you will have either. They are a very small specialist producer of wines and spirits based in Frome, Somerset, and who retail through specialist food shops such as this one. Among their display was a bottle of red liquid labelled as "Cherry Velvet" and described as "a fine smooth blend of vodka, cherry wine and West Country magic". I had finally found cherry vodka and didn't hesitate to buy a bottle - but would it be a match for the Polish drink I had sampled in Revolution?

The bottle itself is uninspiring, the label a simple white one with green text and a gold Witham Friary logo - in short, it looks like something produced from a very small company who doesn't go for an emphasis on appearances. But that in itself is rather good, as it usually means that the emphasis is on the product itself, and not on the marketing. I believe this makes it vastly superior to any of the mass-produced and over-advertised stuff you get in chain stores! :-)

So did the velvet live up to expectations? That evening, I unscrewed the cap to be greeted with a heady aroma - somewhere between the heavy alcohol smell of ordinary vodka and the rich fruitiness you get from cherry brandy - and a liquid the colour of raspberries. I poured a little into a glass and took a sip. It took my breath away! It was strong (22% volume) but with the cherry kick and delicious aftertaste than had accompanied the Polish brand; perhaps I could say that this was even a little better? It mixes well with coke, and produces a divine fruity cocktail when blended with cranberry juice (or presse if you happen to be a little better off). BF loves it t
oo and so do his mates - all agreed to be the eq
ual of anything served in Revolution.

Cherry Velvet is certainly awash with West Country magic - it is a wonderful drink and something that I can recommend to adorn your drinks cabinet. Finding it may be a little difficult, but I give the address of the company below, so if you have trouble, you can contact them direct for suppliers. It'll be worth the effort, I promise you.

Oh, and the nice people also make Damson Velvet and Apricot Velvet - which are firmly on my list of things to try in future!




Details:
A 500ml bottle of Cherry Velvet cost me £12.

You can also write to the company at:
Mr Martin Howard
Friary Vintners Limited
Witham Friary
Frome
Somerset
BA11 5HD

Tel: 01749 850418

Email: friary.vintners@talk21.com

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