IN MY SHOES: The Stiletto Gets Some Swag!
The Stiletto has read many an article on CNET News.com and Wired.com about tech bloggers getting iPods, Razr phones, Wii consoles and games from manufacturers to try out before they are available for purchase by the hoi polloi. Tech blogs, it seems, are swag magnets.
But what kind of swag would anyone even offer a blogger who writes about “politics and other stuff?” A Hillary Nutcracker? A Romney bobble head doll? Sigh!
Well, as it happens, the “other stuff” caught the eye of the folks who market Stiletto Vodka - The Stiletto has mentioned on occasion that she is a vodka aficionado (third item), and that she prefers her libation of choice to be distilled from wheat rather than from potatoes – so they asked her to try their new super-premium vodka.
The goody bag (literally bags – one satchel that can be used as a week-ender; a laptop case and a red makeup bag) included a boxed set with two beautiful lipstick red martini glasses and a bottle of the vodka. The slender bottle, frosted glass graced with the image of a leggy flapper wearing red stiletto shoes, is tapered to resemble a stiletto heel. In part because the company that makes Stiletto is woman-owned, the marketing materials refer to the vodka as “she” as in: “She is strong, alluring and always the most intriguing personality in the room.”
Stiletto, made from the “winter wheat” of Kyrgyzstan and artesian water, is distilled six times and filtered five times. The Stiletto iced her bottle in the freezer for 24 hours before opening it. After swirling a wee bit of dry vermouth in the martini glass to coat the sides (dumping out the excess, of course), she added the vodka to make a very dry martini. Unlike potato vodkas, which are smooth but can be flaccid, super-premium wheat vodkas are smooth, but also clean and crisp. Stiletto had these qualities, and was rather dry, with a bit of bite – and a bit of burn, but not scorching enough to taste medicinal; The Stiletto also detected hints of the charcoal filtering in the aftertaste.
There are vodkas that are suitable only for mixed drinks; vodkas to which you can add lemon zest, gorgonzola-stuffed olives or olive brine to make variations on the classic martini; and there are vodkas that should not be messed with at all. Stiletto falls into the last category. However, bowing to the realities of the marketplace, Stiletto is also available in chocolate, mint and vanilla flavors. As The Stiletto prefers her vodka to be “vodka flavor” she won’t be able to comment on how the vanilla flavor compares to Absolut Vanilla or Stoli Vanil; how the chocolate flavor compares to Goldenbarr Chocolate or Vincent Van Gogh Chocolate; or how the mint flavor compares to Vincent Van Gogh Vodka Mojito Mint. If readers of this blog want to conduct their own taste tests comparing these flavored vodkas and report back to The Stiletto, she will publish their reviews.
*Disclosure: The Stiletto informed her boss about receiving this goodie bag and he assured her that since her day job does not involve food and beverage reviews, there is no conflict of interest. As a vodka drinker himself, he also asked The Stiletto to let him know what she thought.
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