Valentine Vodka Review

Valentine Vodka

Valentine Vodka is made in Ferndale, Michigan a suburb of Detroit. Former Wall Street trader Rifino Valentine launched Valentine Vodka in March 2009 after several years of “intense research and study” on making a quality handmade, ultra-premium vodka–Valentine vodka sells $29.99 in Michigan. Valentine Vodka is distilled from a proprietary blend of barley, Red Michigan Wheat, and corn. The barley and corn are grown in Michigan. Few distilleries blend different types of grains to make their product–it’s usually just one grain. Rifino explains that there are “good qualities but also negative aspects” to every type of grain so he chose to capture the best of each grain and minimize the negatives.

Red Michigan Wheat is superior to other wheats around the world because it grows really well in Michigan, a lot better for fermentation, and, yields better conversion of starches into sugars. It yields a “warmer and softer” distillate. Making vodka is more art and less science. Each Valentine vodka batch in produced in limited quantities of 100 cases or 1200 bottles.

Tasting Review – Valentine Vodka

The nose of Valentine Vodka is strong ethyl alcohol - smells like household cleaner and lemon.  The entry has a nice hint of sweetness to it that brings out a more pronounced spicy mid-palate. It falls apart at the tail end of the mid-palate with an unbalanced structure and a surprisingly long finish with a wicked burn.

Valentine Vodka has one of the more unpleasant finishes we’ve tasted in a vodka. The bottle is eye-catching, but we are disappointed–unfortunately we expected a better tasting distilled spirit from $29.99-priced Valentine Vodka - Not Recommended