When it comes to vodka and the countries that produce it, Russia, Poland and even the United States comes to mind, but what many people might not think of, is the puffin-saturated island of Iceland.

Enter Reyka a vodka brand that's located in the town of Borgarnes, Iceland. Fun fact: the town of Borgarnes is so small that Reyka's master distiller Thordur Sigurdsson even holds the position as the town's local fireman and policeman! 

A man of many talents. When not distilling Reyka vodka,  Thordur Sigurdsson is putting out fires and keeping the law and order as the neighborhood fireman and policeman. 

Reyka is made in one of the smallest vodka distilleries in the world, producing just 330 cases with each distillation. The distillery was founded by family owned Scottish distiller group William Grant & Sons, who decided in 2005 that they would like to expand their portfolio in the vodka market, and found that Iceland's rugged landscapes and pure glacial water made it the perfect candidate as a place to distil vodka. 

Named after the Icelandic word for "smoke", Reyka prides itself on its potato vodka being distilled and bottled wholly in Iceland, with a special focus on its purity. One of its defining features is the water used in its vodka's distillation process, which is drawn from a glacial spring that runs through a 4,000 lava field. The volcanic rock that the water is drawn through is said to provide a sort of natural filter, forgoing the need of treatment or demineralisation. What you get, is thus a crisp-tasting water supply that contributes to its vodka. 

Reyka vodka is filtered through volcanic rocks, whose porosity acts as a sponge that absorbs and filters out impurities from the resultant liquid. 

The distillery also prides itself in employing one of the few remaining Carter-Head stills in the world. This particular still was invented by the titular Carter-Head Brothers, who had originally been apprentices to Aeneas Coffey, the famed inventor of the continuous column Coffey still. After being distilled, the vodka that comes out of the still is further filtered through volcanic rocks, further purifying the spirit before its bottled. 

Today, we'll be taste testing Reyka vodka for ourselves, and seeing how it stands up! Let's get to it!

Reyka Vodka, 40% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Water Aroma: Pretty clean, almost has hints of its weight and creaminess, really more a texture than a particular flavour, perhaps a little bit mineral in the vein of mineral water. A very thin outline of orange zest, with just a slight veil of grain husk.

Taste: Really nice creaminess to it, still with that slight mineral quality. Alittle bit of lemon pith. It’s almost like lemon flavoured mineral water with more richness and creaminess of cream that’s not sweet.

Finish: Pretty clean, there’s a good weight and richness into the finish, with really no burn at all. It’s soft on the finish, not much crispness either. Has a gentle clove spice note that lingers.

My Thoughts

This is a more mineral-driven Vodka that’s quite clean, has some moderate richness to it, it’s very smooth and creamy, with really not much of a burn, so much as it has this spiced quality on the finish of cloves. There’s a little bit of a citrus outline to it that makes it that much more approachable. This is incredibly approachable - that’s the biggest takeaway for me here. It’s fairly clean, all things considered, yet has some richness to it. Compared to say a potato-based Vodka, this would be a little less creamy and rich, but it’s certainly not thin or flat. It’s not totally flavourless (which is the most purist definition of a Vodka) with some good flavours that makes it fairly appealing. The mineral thing it’s got going on is abit of a hit or miss depending on whether you like mineral water - if you like the sort of Volvic or Evian water, then this would work perfectly for you.

I think this is best used for a cocktail - it’s really friendly and would serve as a good and versatile canvas for really any cocktail, it doesn’t have strong or overly dominant flavours, yet gives that richness of its body and that very slight citrus and cloves, which are again, not particularly strong. I wouldn’t necessarily use this as a shot because it doesn’t have so much of that burn and crispness (that oomph), and it’s still alittle neutral to sip on its own. So into the cocktail it goes! *PS: This works best chilled in the freezer, as compared to room temp. temp.

Lok Bing Hong A budding journalist that loves experiencing new things and telling people's stories. I have 30 seconds of coherence a day. I do not decide when they come. They are not consecutive.