Review: Ice Fox Vodka
This new vodka is made in Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay off the coast of the city, where there are probably no foxes and definitely no ice — rather, a portion of profits from the sale of Ice Fox vodka are donated “to protect the shrinking population of the Arctic foxes that inspired the product.”
Triple-distilled from American corn, this is straightforward stuff. The nose is lightly sweet and a touch fruity, but more traditional hospital notes dominate. The palate is fairly harmless, lightly sweet with milk chocolate notes, a touch of honey, and brown butter. The body is far from overwhelming, just a modest, simple spirit with a short finish that whisks away, leaving behind nothing much at all. Fine for mixing, but not exciting enough for a straight sipper.
Update January 2015: I tried a sample from a different batch of Ice Fox and had moderately different tasting notes, including strong notes of citrus peel and cinnamon bark. Still plenty of hospital character to go around, but with a considerably more rustic, less sweet secondary character. In other words: Your mileage may vary.
80 proof.
B / $20
Ice Fox Vodka
$20
What, pray tell, is a ‘hospital’ note? I’m pretty sure I don’t want my vodka to smell like a hospital Did you mean ‘hospitable’? Even that’s a stretch as a descriptor for a smell.
In this context, hospital notes include medicinal aromas like rubbing alcohol and (fresh) band-aids. A medicinal character, within reason, gives a good vodka a clean structure and a a cleansing finish. Of course, this is a matter of taste. Many people may not appreciate these “old world” notes and gravitate toward sweeter spirits.