Luxury Experience - Heavy Water Vodka

It looks like professional cocktail and spirits authorities and renowned cocktail authors Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller have created a hit with their new ultra-premium vodka called Heavy Water Vodka.

Made in Sweden at the Bloomberg estate near Källby, on the shore of Northern Europe’s largest lake, Heavy Water Vodka has the unique taste of Sweden in every sip.

After searching for years to discover the perfect vodka formula, which required them to travel the world, spend countless hours of intense research developing formulas and subsequent arduous hours of sampling, they finally found the vodka they were searching for in Heavy Water Vodka. Hey, we know, it’s a rough job, but someone had to do it! Heavy Water Vodka derives its’ name from the rare isotope, D20, which scientists call “heavy water.” For every 6,000 parts of water, there is only one part that is heavy water. According to Jared Brown, “Heavy Water Vodka was designed by discerning drinkers for discerning drinkers.”

Heavy Water Vodka is made from Scandinavian-grown winter wheat that is fermented and blended with deep artisan well water. It is distilled through a continuous still and filtered, with the actual number of times that it is distilled, as well as the formula, a closely guarded secret, however the result is a product that is rich, balanced and smooth with definite herbal and spicy notes of fennel, toasted almonds and orange. Heavy Water Vodka made its debut in October 2005, and has already received five international medals.

Even the bottle of Heavy Water Vodka is unique, with its squat shape made by a prestigious French glassmaker with a metal rod inside which bears the name Heavy Water Vodka. The Italian-made, flavor-neutral rod is a playful addition to Heavy Water Vodka with a nod to the fuel rods that are immersed in heavy water to generate energy from plutonium.

From their book, Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini (HarperCollins), we have included the aptly named cocktail, Anastasia.

2	ounces	Heavy Water Vodka
2	ounces	Fresh-squeezed pink grapefruit juice
¼	ounce	Spiced tea syrup
1		Egg white
2	dashes	Regan’s Orange Bitters #6

Fill a shaker with ice. Add all ingredients. Shake hard until icy cold, about 30 seconds. Pour into a rocks glass filled with ice, or strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Spiced Tea Syrup: Combine 1-cup water and 18 whole cloves in a small pot. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add 1 Darjeeling tea bag and steep for about 5 minutes. Return to heat and add 1-cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Strain through a coffee filter, cool and store in a tight glass jar until ready to use.

Heavy Water Vodka can easily be appreciated sipped ice cold, which we did, or made into a cocktail, which we also did. We always enjoy creating innovative cocktails with new products that we sample in the Luxury Experience bar, and after considerable and very pleasurable hours of experimentation, we came up with these 2 recipes that we think you will want to add to your own cocktail collection. Due to the fennel and toasted almonds notes in Heavy Water Vodka, we thought it would mix well with citrus as well as with sweet liqueurs.

1½	ounces	Heavy Water Vodka
1½	ounces	seltzer
	splash	Martini & Rossi Extra Dry Vermouth
	squeeze	lemon
⅓	ounce	honey syrup (honey mixed with water, and shaken to dissolve honey)
1	teaspoon	pomegranate molasses

Fill a martini glass with ice, add cold water, and let glass chill while mixing the martini.

Fill a bar glass with ice, pour the Heavy Water Vodka, seltzer, and vermouth, over the ice, add the squeeze of lemon, honey syrup and pomegranate molasses. Stir well to thoroughly chill and combine ingredients.

Empty the martini glass and shake out excess water; glass should be frosted if cold enough. Add a small drop of pomegranate molasses in the bottom of the glass for color. Strain the drink into the martini glass, and float 3 pomegranate seeds on top. This is one resolution that’s easy to keep!

1½	ounces	Heavy Water Vodka
¾	ounce	almond liqueur
3	dashes	Fee Brothers Peach Bitters

Whether you decide to drink Heavy Water Vodka ice cold and neat, in a martini or a cocktail, we are sure that you will enjoy experiencing the nuances of this unique vodka.

For more information on Heavy Water Vodka, please visit their website at http://www.heavywater.no.