Karlsson's Vodka.. Made from Potato, not Grain! How interesting!

Traditionally I shy away from Vodka when tasting spirits.  Faced with this dilemma of flavored vodka products that stand front and center in nearly every bar in America, I've had to draw the line somewhere.  Those who know me- usually would say the same thing.  I don't review flavored vodka!  Which usually means I haven't reviewed vodka in a while.  Too many times do I receive samples, only to find that the PR agency has also sent a selection of the "flavored" varieties.  What usually happens is that I don't review any of them.  Too bad.  My rate card specifically reads, "No Flavored Vodka".... What is it that is so hard to understand here?

Fast forward to the WSWA show in Orlando, Florida.  I had the chance to bump into Megan Kennedy from Karlsson's Vodka.  In a room filled with grape vodka and wild cherry vodka, whipped cream vodka and sweet vanilla cake vodka, she stood there like a stoic against the invaders.  Why was she alone?  Because what Karlsson's makes is vodka with terroir.  Karlsson's Vodka is distilled from New Potatoes AND they vintage date their offerings depending on the harvest. 

Karlsson's is not your typical vodka.  It has FLAVOR.  Most vodka on the market is hardly more than alcoholized water.   And that's too bad.  Because with with ingredients like Virgin new potatoes that are both unfiltered and gluten free- plus single distilled- you are able to taste the potato, not a whisper.  This is a vodka that doesn't have to shout- but its authenticity is front and center.

There was a time when all vodka was made from potatoes.  What happened to that?

The 2008 expression with its florescent orange label over crisp white lettering in a hand grenade shaped bottle is most elegant indeed.  The vodka is crystal clear yet the marketing materials say it's distilled unfiltered.  This is an extremely pure product worthy of your highest adoration.  The material goes further by giving the specific variety of potato and the provenance of that potato.  In the case of the 2008 expression, here is the information from their website:

Karlsson’s Batch 2008
The first such release in April of 2012 was Karlsson’s Vodka Batch 2008, which is made exclusively from the 2008 harvest of the Gammel Svensk Röd (“Old Swedish Red”) potato from Bertil Gunnarsson’s farm in Cape Bjäre. “Old Swedish Red,” as the name implies, is a slightly reddish heirloom potato varietal that is grown exclusively on Gunnersson’s farm. Börje Karlsson selected it for this special release because of all the potatoes harvested in 2008, the Gammel Svensk Röd had the best natural taste and character.

Karlsson’s Batch 2009
Karlsson’s Vodka Batch 2009 is the second release in a Karlsson’s series of limited edition vintage vodkas. It is made exclusively with a single harvest of Solist Virgin New Potatoes from the Mäsinge Lantbruk farm in Cape Bjäre, Sweden. The Solist potato is round to oval in shape, with an off-white flesh and thin, easily-peeled, pale yellow skin. Solist potatoes are generally planted very early in the season, between the end of March and the end of April. The Solist is used in Swedish cuisine, often served boiled with just sea salt and dill. Because of the early planting, they can be harvested by the end of May through August. This potential for an extremely early harvest, before the Swedish celebration of Midsommar, makes the Solist highly sought after in early summer.

But what does this mean to me?

It means that the potatoes have a soul.   A what a great soul it is.  When you open the bottle the first thing that you sense is the aromatics of this highly expressive vodka.  They leap out of the bottle, up your nose and say DRINK ME!  I sense freshly cut dill, sweet new potatoes, freshly drawn cream, bagels hot from the toaster smeared with unsalted butter and a smattering of the soil.  This taste of the place is memorable and I am driven to making a batch of gravlax from the liquid pleasure held within.  This is potato to the 100th degree.  It's almost frightening to think of vodka being made of anything BUT potatoes!  The finish goes on and on swirling over your tongue and colliding with the rest of your mouth.  I wouldn't do anything more than serve this vodka with a couple Mavea "Inspired Water" ice cubes that have lemon zests frozen within.  Karlsson's 2008 expression is cool, Teutonic and robust.  I shudder to think that someone would mix this vodka with anything but the purest ice on the planet.  Maybe a peel of grapefruit, or perhaps a scant splash of a flavored simple syrup from a company called Fruitations...  I'm passionate about their Tangerine flavor and I think it lends just the right amount of sweetness to acidity.