He left a note taped to it "NO Label on this bottle"

December 9, 2008 3:11 PM

What kind of alcohol is in this unlabelled bottle?

I've come across a bottle of unmarked, unopened liquor, plain and simple (it was left behind by a friend, I didn't find it in the street). And I don't know what it is... I can't get in touch with the friend. I'd like to know the type of liquor and the brand name.

I don't want to open it up and taste it because i'd rather put it into storage. That little emblem has a website but that is a very broad company and doesn't give me much help. It also says 80 proof under the emblem if you can't see.

Thanks!

posted by saxamo to food & drink (18 comments total)

Is the glass clear or blue? If it's blue...it kinda looks like a Bombay Saphire bottle. They have those recessed sides.
posted by DrDreidel at 3:16 PM on December 9, 2008

Nikolai vodka.
posted by ryanshepard at 3:16 PM on December 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

That's Nikolai vodka. Don't know what happened to the rest of the label, but the remaining label around the neck is definitely Nikolai.

There are several categories of vodka. Super premium, premium, and "god hates me". Nikolai belongs to the third category.

Still, the lack of the rest of the label, or any adhesive on the bottle to indicate that there used to be one, suggests that it may in fact be a knock-off. In which case you need to kick the quality down another notch to "kill me now".
posted by valkyryn at 3:16 PM on December 9, 2008 [4 favorites]

I second the calls for it being Nikolai. The black label stuff is definitely in the kill me now category. The red label stuff is merely god hates me.

Wait until you're already pretty drunk to start with that shit unless you want to be three hours late to work because you drunkenly set the time instead of the alarm.
posted by sperose at 3:29 PM on December 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

Psh, I can see why he left it behind...
Oy, i'll find something to do with it. Thanks again y'all.
posted by saxamo at 3:39 PM on December 9, 2008

You could always run it through a water filter. It still won't be Grey Goose, but it'd be more drinkable. And a water filter is cheaper than a bottle of good vodka.
posted by echo target at 4:48 PM on December 9, 2008

I'm guessing the label was removed out of shame?
posted by scarabic at 4:53 PM on December 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

echo target - this is an interesting idea but as an alcohol noob, what does filtering do? I assume enhance the flavor, I just cannot image how it would make it taste better.
posted by rumsey monument at 5:39 PM on December 9, 2008

or they were so drunk they didn't have anything else to do. Here is a novel use for that vodka.
posted by mmascolino at 5:44 PM on December 9, 2008

Make a vodka sauce with it. Also running it through the filter is a great idea.
posted by schyler523 at 5:45 PM on December 9, 2008

There was actually a special on Mythbusters a while back where they had a vodka connoisseur taste various different qualities of vodka, as well as a cheap vodka that had been filtered different amounts of times. From the vodka expert:

His ranking corresponded exactly to the number of filtrations, with the top-shelf vodka picked as the best.

Anthony: "Passing a low-end vodka through a filter will make it better, but it won't make it a top shelf vodka"
posted by sophist at 6:27 PM on December 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

And a water filter is cheaper than a bottle of good vodka.

If I recall that Mythbusters episode correctly, they used a new filter for each pass. One trip through a filter won't cut much of the liquid death aspect. To get it to a level that's almost comparable to "good vodka", 6+ passes could be required.
posted by CKmtl at 6:51 PM on December 9, 2008

I never knew about filtering the stuff! I have spare brita filters around and I may try it if i'm bored one weekend. It seems strange though, you'd think they'd do such a simple thing at the factory. I guess it's cheap vodka for a reason.

Mabye I can do cool flaming vodka tricks :)
posted by saxamo at 7:38 PM on December 9, 2008

Note: i put some plasti-vodka through a brita 3 times and it still tasted like hot garbage.
posted by Mach5 at 8:52 PM on December 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

saxamo, the reason the filtration trick works is that charcoal filtering is pretty much exactly what distinguishes crap vodka from the good stuff. There are some other differences, but the high-end brands are all filtered more and better than the rotgut. Sticking it in a brita is a decent way of faking filtration, but it isn't quite the same, for reasons which probably have to do with filtration capacity.
posted by valkyryn at 3:34 AM on December 10, 2008

oh, you can't use the filters after you pass vodka through them. So don't do it if you want to save your extra filters. Its really not worth it...that handle of vodka cost less then a filter. Just give it to some freshman in college or a high school student...
posted by Black_Umbrella at 7:33 AM on December 10, 2008

The other thing worth doing with that vodka is using it in pie crust. I keep a bottle of it in my freezer for just that reason, because although I wouldn't dare drink the stuff, it does make perfect pie crust.
posted by dizziest at 12:18 PM on December 10, 2008

Ah, yes, Nicolai. I did my fair share of vodka polishing with a Brita pitcher many years ago.You need to run Nicolai through a Brita probably six times minimum before it becomes tolerable. I'd recommend eight trips through the filter. I used Nicolai only when I couldn't find Barton.

Not recommended.
posted by woj at 11:14 PM on December 10, 2008