Product: Absolut Raspberri Producer: Absolut Approximate Retail Value: $21/750 mL Category: Vodka Country of Origin: Sweden Reviewer: R. Pietsch The F Words: Flavor – Unrefined vodka, cough syrup, alcohol. Feel – Heavy. Way too heavy. Finish – Far too long for my taste (what’s left of it now).

Rating:

In my experience, there is more than one way to make an interesting drink. I’m not sure brands like Absolut understand that, though. I think to them, the only way to make a vodka drink with the flavor of a fruit (or pepper, or spice) is to infuse the vodka with said flavor. Thus every year, for the past six years, they’ve unleashed a new flavor of vodka on the world. That brings it to the grand total to about 10 flavors, not including Absolut Level (a “top shelf” vodka which is inferior, especially at its price point) and good old Absolut Vodka, still a decent product.

Raspberri is not the newest, but it is the worst.  Nothing about it works.  It’s poorly balanced, inadequately flavored, and just plain bad. The bite is stronger than regular Absolut. One would imagine that the fruity flavor would mask any harsh aspects of the vodka. Of course, one would be wrong. What’s worse? The predominant flavor tastes like it was reduced from a child’s cough medicine. Dimetapp had better have lawyers on standby if Absolut ever announces the release of Absolut Grappa. I think I can say with some certainty that I’d rather mix Dimetapp into my Ice Wine-Tini.

Surely other Absolut products have their flaws. This is a company that has proven over the years that they are simply about the quantity of their products. While I fully support certain aspects of this line (Absolut Citron makes a wicked Cosmo), some of these just fall flat. Raspberri is one of them. I consider myself an experienced mixer, and I find this product utterly useless. I ran through every raspberry-flavored concoction I could think of. Nothing, at all, was worth drinking to get drunk. As a frame of reference, all of these drinks are at least drinkable if made with Bacardi Razz—just throwing that out there.

So, maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m a snob and I’m being a bit harsh. I extended the invite to some younger friends—the kind who come over looking for something (er, anything) to drink. Out comes the Absolut Raspberri then the sodas, juices, syrups etc.  To be fair, I let them mix their own drinks so my skills are not in question. And, well, when you see a 21-year-old hipster pour his drink down the sink, you know it’s because it’s just that bad.