Leroy Butlers vodka
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I'd be curious to hear @Timpranillo's opinion on this premium vodka
Is it just a label or is there something else behind the proclaimed awesomeness ?
I'm guessing Leap, like many other brands, buys 96% ABV neutral grain spirit from a large conglomerate like MGP, dilutes it down to 40% ABV, bottles it, and sells it. Some brands might do something for marketing purposes like run it through a still once or filters it through charcoal. Given Leap's look (cheapest possible bottle on the market, cheap ass looking label), I'm betting they dilute and bottle. Which, fine!
When you're comparing brands at the liquor store, it is often the case that the booze inside the bottles all came from the same place. (that $100 Whistlepig Rye? Same juice as the $30 Bulleit Rye.) Even more so with Vodka!
As someone with firsthand knowledge of both MGP and Alberta Distillers (the MGP of Canada) products - most of these places make very good spirits! At Big Bottom, we started distilling our own product immediately to put in barrels and sell 2-3 years down the line. While we were aging it, we bought juice from MGP or Alberta to develop our brand and you know, revenue! Our schtick was aging that product we got from MGP or Alberta in wine barrels for 2-6 months and selling it as "Zinfandel Finished or Port Finished" for example.
Quick aside...
Tito's buys from MGP, runs it through a pot still inhouse, dilutes it and then claims "but we still make it in batches, use old-fashioned pot stills, and taste-test every batch to make sure you get only the best." Which I mean is technically accurate, but... To pot still vodka and meet the 95% ABV requirement you'd have to run it through a pot still so many times and the yields would be so low so as to make the process wildly inefficient and insanely expensive. Never mind that actually pot stilling vodka would produce a product that tastes nothing like any vodka made...
Even if Leap Spirits is making everything in house - honestly, the biggest difference in the taste of any vodka is the source material it's distilled from. A Vodka distilled from grapes tends to have a faint fruity character; grain-sourced leans a bit bready and yeasty; rye vodkas have a bit more bite and spark than a corn or wheat one; and potato-sourced vodka has a rounder, sometimes buttery flavor. And no, the number of distillations doesn't really tell you much as after about 3 it's pretty dang meaningless.
It's a 40% ABV neutral grain spirit that is gonna taste almost identical to the other 40% ABV neutral grain spirit. Especially to all but the most experienced and professional taster trying specifically to test comparatively. For the most part people drinking Vodka are doing shots out of the freezer or mixing it with soda/tonic. The only way to differentiate is gonna be about marketing and packaging. These folks are aiming for Wisconsinites, Packer fans, and sports fans - with Butler's name and likeness being the hook for them. I don't blame them for trying something! Feels about 20 years too late for Butler's name to be a huge driver of something but whatever...
The only thing that really bugs me about Leap is this "You won’t be hit with the burning aftertaste that plagues other vodka brand" line which is AT BEST a subjective term. What you think is "burn" I may not. I mean my wife finds black pepper a bit spicy whereas I need habaneros to start feeling anything heat wise. Plus, if you tell yourself "oh this is smooth", you'll perceive it as smooth. It's almost as dumb as the whole you won't get a hangover from premium vodka but you will from cheaper vodka tripe.
I know I had some vodka in me that day at Lambeau when Leroy did the first leap.
Coincidence? I think NOT!
Drink and enjoy whatever trips your trigger, but remember that ENJOY is the most functional word. Don't drink and be an asshole, nobody wants that.
No worries bvan. You don't surrender to the vodka, the vodka surrenders to you.
You haven't had anything until you've had Kirkland Light Beer, I'll tell you what.
https://packers.wyng.com/5fb29cdcf036be01d29ebabc
Looks like Absolut Vodka is the official Vodka of the Green Bay Packers.
