Pristine brand vodka touch of home for owner

October 27, 6:10 PMDrinks ExaminerBill Dowd

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In a recent game of Refrigerator Shuffle at my house (buy a new one, move the old one and get rid of an even older one), I came across a bottle in the freezer of the oldest one.

Inside was Tovtry Golden Fields, a Ukranian vodka I'd tasted, then squirreled away a couple of years ago and promptly forgot about. I popped the top, poured a bit of the spirit, beautifully chilled to a syrupy consistency, and sampled it. As good as I remembered.

It made me wonder what had become of Alexander Bratslavsky, a native of Ukraine who I first met 5½ years ago when he was pushing a line of vodkas from his Tovtry Importing company.

As it turns out, Bratslavsky next week will introduce his own vodka, called Pristine, at Delaware Plaza Wine & Liquor in Delmar, NY, a suburb of Albany. Then the store will host a tasting from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, November 7.

Pristine, which will sell for $25 for the 750ml bottle, is made for Bratslavsky in Ukraine from native wheat and Carpathian Mountains water, distilled five times and charcoal filtered five times.

I'll review Pristine for my "Dowd's Tasting Notes" blog once it is released. Meanwhile, here's what I wrote when Bratslavsky first began introducing Tovtry vodkas to the American market:

Vodka, the world's top-selling white spirit, comes under an ever-increasing number of brand names. Nevertheless, Delmar resident Alexander Bratslavsky is trying to crack the market with a trio of vodkas brought from the Crimean peninsula in his native Ukraine under his Tovtry Importing umbrella. That region is a natural for the grains and herbs used in Tovtry's Old Fortress, Golden Fields and Ternopil vodkas. It was known as the breadbasket of the former Soviet Union, nestled in the rich foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and has an abundance of natural springs that supply artesian wells used for the vodka.

Bratslavsky's products, which he's distributing to local liquor stores as well as in eight other states, sell for $16 to $17 for a one-liter bottle.

All three scored in the high 80s in the Beverage Tasting Institute's 100-point index. Our own tastings showed the three vodkas to be distinctly different from each other. Old Fortress, with hints of nutmeg and coriander, is the smoothest. Golden Fields is more complex, with definite dill and rye tones. Ternopil is a harsher, oilier vodka with heat in the aftertaste.