Pražská

Czech Republic

has one thing and lacks another

This is a review of Pražská vodka from the Czech Republic. I sampled it in Germany in 2017. It’s clear, 37.5% alcohol, owned by Stock, and I thought its initial taste was great.

I bought this vodka in a small shop near my hotel in Prague. I wanted to have something to compare that bottle of Absolut Elyx to. The owner recommended Blend 42, but I had already tried that one before. So I just took this one called Pražská vodka.

It looked like a typical medium shelf vodka.

dudes in bars

Pražská vodka has an official website, but it’s only in Czech. The website revolves around a rustic bar theme. You can move around a hand holding a shot glass. There are some of the typical awards and cocktail recipes, and I didn’t find that much else.

A look at the contact form revealed that Pražská vodka is owned by Stock – the same company that owns Amundsen Expedition 1911. There is a simple informational page that calls Pražská vodka a TRADITIONAL GRAIN VODKA that has undergone a SPECIAL FILTRATION PROCESS. And that’s basically it.

I also found a Facebook page but it had less than 1,000 followers and hadn’t been updated since 2016.

[online search from April 11th 2022]

It seems as though the brand image of this vodka is kind of “down to earth”. It’s a bar vodka.

when in Prague

So I’m back in my hotel room. Amy Winehouse is on, it’s 01:48 in the morning, and I’m slightly tipsy from trying Absolut Elyx. Now it’s Pražská vodka time. Or can I just write it as Prazska vodka?

Amy is singing: “And although he’s nothing in the scheme of my years, it just serves to bludgeon my futile tears.”

Pražská vodka is mild but…

So how does this vodka taste? Much to my surprise, Pražská vodka was initially very mild. It tasted sweet, and it went down smoothly. There was just a tiny bit of uniqueness missing for the taste to be great, but still, it was very good.

The aftertaste, well, not so much. I felt like I had a chilled rock sitting in my stomach. Okay, maybe that’s because I’ve been having a bit more vodka than usual tonight. But there was really not that much fun in the aftertaste. It wasn’t aromatic. It was bland.

I paid about 160 crowns for this 500ml liter bottle. So that’s about 8,5€ for 700ml. I wonder if this whole price ranking thing is fair at all. I mean, how is a brand in a high-income country ever supposed to compete with one in, say, Uzbekistan?

The bottle design isn’t bad, but it looks boring to me. It fits the bar vodka cliché. There’s just nothing special about it.

All in all this is a vodka to use in mixed drinks with other alcoholic beverages. Like a vodka martini.

“It’s bricked up in my head, it’s shoved under my bed”. Amy.