To paraphrase the late, great Rodney Dangerfield, vodka can’t get no respect! Why? For starters, unlike its darker spirits counterparts that are consumed neat or on the rocks, many people think drinking straight vodka is about as enjoyable as drinking nail polish remover. As a result, it is most often masked with juices and soda, slammed as a shot or frozen to the point of being completely void of taste. In other words, vodka is simply a path to inebriation, consumed any way except neat.
Enter NEFT Vodka, which may be the only exception to this rule. Delivering a small-batch vodka from Austria that can hold its own against any other sipping spirit, this relatively young brand is pioneering a growing culture of elite sipping vodkas for trendsetters and spirits connoisseurs alike. NEFT is also packaged in a super cool, one-of-a-kind, unbreakable barrel that can go virtually anywhere you want to go, all while staying chilled for hours. Light and compact enough for a backpack, unexpected drinking experiences are endless, you can now relax with an exceptional beverage in ways you never thought possible. NEFT will change the way you think about vodka.
If you haven’t heard of NEFT Vodka until now, you’ll soon be noticing it everywhere. Besides its lightning-fast expansion throughout the country and even internationally, NEFT is quickly becoming a favorite among those who are in the know, above the fray, and ahead of the pack. Not trendy or gimmicky, NEFT is more like a secret society for consumers who know they deserve the best and are bold enough to ask.
Conceived in Russia, NEFT’s founders understood that what goes into the vodka is more important than what the vodka goes into. Armed with this knowledge, they set out to reinvent the premium vodka category by combining the purest, all-natural ingredients with a gentle and minimalist approach to distillation such that the nuanced flavors are maintained in the final product — not stripped out like its ethanol-tasting peers. That’s right, NEFT’s ingredients are meant to be tasted. Truly a game changer.
NEFT’s proprietary recipe begins with carefully selected Old World, non-GMO ancient rye grains that are then combined with arguably the purest water in the world: spring water that has been filtered for over 50 years below the Rhaetian Alps down to the Rhein River where it is sourced. Both components are naturally low in dissolved salts and ions, so no demineralization is needed in the water’s extraction. This ensures that fewer distillations are necessary to produce the precise flavor profile and creamy viscosity since the ingredients begin the distillation process at the height of their natural states.
The importance of the distillation methods in crafting any vodka cannot be overstated. Neither can the importance of the number of distillations. While decades of mass-marketing machinations will have you believe that the more distillations, the better the vodka, quite the opposite is true. More distillations are most often reflective of excessive impurities as well as lower-quality ingredients that need to be stripped of any taste. Over-distilling also reduces viscosity of the vodka so the mouthfeel becomes akin to drinking water. NEFT on the other hand, rejects over-filtering by employing a gentle and meticulously engineered process to achieve the characteristics that define the sip-worthy taste: bright and clean and a slight creaminess on the nose, a rich, silky viscosity with delicate mineral notes carried throughout, and a luxuriously lengthy finish of soft, rye spice. While far milder on the senses, the final product is a rye-based vodka that’s every bit as sippable as an ultra-premium rye whiskey.
More expensive than other grains, rye-based vodkas are uncommon, and almost exclusively found in ultra-premium vodkas. NEFT uses only the highest quality rye, each selected for their soft and mild profiles. With this decidedly rare combination of old-world rye, Alps spring water, and minimalist approach to distillation, NEFT needs no barrel-aging to be savored. In fact, NEFT has even been recommended for cigar pairing in a widely known luxury publication devoted to cigars – almost unheard of for a non-aged spirit.
While breaking the mold in the vodka category is no small feat, NEFT takes things to another level in delivering an unbeatable drinking experience to its customers. With its unbreakable, lightweight and portable barrel that keeps the vodka cold for up to six hours, this liquid is perfect for the adventurer in all of us. Whether you want to simply enjoy by the pool or beach, have a nip after reaching the top of Half Dome, or take it skydiving to celebrate your successful escape from death, you’ll be drinking the very best, anywhere you want. Oh and did we mention it makes an excellent (and easy to wrap) gift for that special someone you’re trying to impress this year?
More importantly is that the fun and distinctive packaging pays substantial environmental dividends, too. The barrel is made of aluminum and tin, making it more recyclable than glass given the complexity of mixing colored glass and the amount that ultimately ends up in the general waste stream. In addition, aluminum is not only made with up to 70 percent recycled content to begin with, but it’s also much lighter than glass, carrying a smaller carbon footprint during transportation.
NEFT’s environmental dedication doesn’t end with the barrel. The decision to distill and package in Austria, a world leader in agri-environmental programs, was made not only for its proximity to the Alps spring water and ancient rye grains, but also for its commitment to organic and sustainable production methods. And, its award-winning and muti-generational-owned distillery is powered by low-carbon natural gas and is moving toward 100 percent renewable energy.
The barrel is available in three options: Black, White and Community Pride, though NEFT is currently offering a limited-edition Holiday Barrel as well. The barrel design has been so successful that the company created a “double shot” mini that is not only TSA friendly, but contains 100 milliliters of vodka — twice the size of a typical mini bottle. Needless to say, the smuggling — and stocking-stuffer — opportunities are almost endless.
Considering that you’ve decided to visit this website in the first place, we’re sure that vodka has shown up in your glass once or twice before. However, we aren’t so sure it was vodka in its purest form. Did you have to mix it? Mask it? If you couldn’t enjoy it neat like a true sipping spirt as well as in a cocktail, you were drinking the ordinary. Demand more. Be bold. Drink NEFT.
This article is sponsored by NEFT Vodka.
