Vodka Review: Skol
Stats
On The Bottle
Famous since 1849.
Review
Once upon a time (when I was in college), I served drinks at a country club. At some point in my tenure there, Skol became the official well vodka. I thought it was sad that they were using a vodka cheaper than Smirnoff. However, I never bothered to try Skol to see if it compared. I decided to change that.
The Shot
The initial taste hides behind the chill. As the vodka warms in my mouth, the moisture slowly gets ripped away, forcing me to swallow. Skol rips and burns all the way down my throat. The aftertaste is so bitter it requires a chaser.
The Mixed Drink
The mixer was Red Bull. The mixed drink was horrible. It tasted like the Red Bull was spoiled.
Opinions
Luckily, I didn't have anyone drinking with me. If you want a bottom shelf vodka, there are better options than Skol.
Publish Dates
- Published on Apr 08, 2008
- Updated on Apr 08, 2008
Comments
Atik (Anonymous) said on Dec 10, 2008 at 11:13 PM…
I shoot vodka pretty regularly... Skol is actually my second choice to Stolichnaya. I can't help but wonder if you usually shoot your vodka, as skol's unusually smooth and bordering on sweet with just enough bite to assure you're drinking vodka.
Robert (Registered) said on Dec 11, 2008 at 12:25 PM…
Actually, I prefer straight vodka to mixed drinks. Until recently, that was the only way I drank vodka. For reviews, I don't simply knock back shots. I try to take in the flavor and experience the vodka, rather than throw it down. I'm sure one could get by on Skol if they shot and chased it so fast that they didn't "savor" it. However, while trying to enjoy the vodka, I just don't see how anyone could prefer the taste of Skol, even ignoring the obvious bottom-shelf-ness of the vodka. It seems to me Skol isn't and doesn't pretend to be a good vodka.
That said, everyone is entitled to his own opinion. If you want to drink Skol, I certainly won't stop you.
Atik (Anonymous) said on Dec 12, 2008 at 10:15 AM…
Fair enough. Thank you for your timely response. To be fair, I do chase immediately. Just one thing... why not add hangover potential to the reviews? I actually knocked back half a fifth of skol last night and feel rather peachy this morning. Maybe I'm just an alcoholic. Are you the same guy that reviewed Rain? If so... given what you think of Skol, I may have to try it. Thanks for your time.
Robert (Registered) said on Dec 12, 2008 at 12:43 PM…
I haven't been able to quantify hangover potential. A lot of that does have to do with the impurities that don't get filtered out, but it has a lot more to do with whether you re-hydrate (since alcohol causes dehydration, which has all kinds of nasty effects associated with hangovers), whether you ate food during / after drinking (as I've found eating a good meal after reduces the stomach nausea), and how well your metabolism works (as I found in my younger years that I rarely had hangovers and now I have them more often as my metabolism slows with age).
So, I could say whether I got one, but I don't think it'd be indicative of other people's experience and it may unjustly show poorly for a vodka if I didn't take care of myself before bed. That said, for the Imperia review (currently rated #4), I did mention the hangover (or lack of one). I did this because their site specifically pointed out the lower impurities would result in less of a hang over.
As far as reviews, I am the only reviewer at this point. I usually post my opinions, then post those of the people I drank with at the end of the review. So, not only did I review Rain, I reviewed every vodka on the site. Rain is a really great vodka for the dollar. You may be interested in Sobieski as well. It's priced around Smirnoff, but is better than Stoli. In fact, it's better than a lot of vodkas I've had. It's currently rated #6.