As stated above, 2 CoolerClubbers managed to get invitations to the exclusive launch to the Ice Bar in Sunshine Modern of the highly acclaimed luxury vodka, Belvedere...
Again, thanks to the good folks at Juice magazine who was kind enough to invite James and I to this event. May many more invitations to come. Amen…
Unfortunately, on D-Day, James could not make it due to conflicting schedules. That left myself and a guest, P.Dandelion, to journey into this event by our poor lonely selves. Hehehe…
Before I begin this event post, I would like to share some insight of this vodka known as Belvedere. As vodka is my favourite type of spirit, I declare this post, a ‘Vodkalicious’ entry.
One thing about me is that
• I am not a whiskey-man,
• I am not a bourbon-gent
• I am not tequila-gila.
• I am remotely conscious of what fine wine to dine with
• I am clueless of what bubblies are bubblycious.
But one thing I love is my Vodkas. (plus rummy-yummy and maybe sin-gin on the side)
The reason being is that I LOVE cocktails and shots. Vodka makes a good spirit to go with most mixers, juices, punches and cocktails that I concoct in my secret evil lab at home.
My test-subjects are all the club members. Muahahaha… (you guys are the best subjects…no, I mean friends a clubber could have)
A bit about Belvedere and why its retailed at around RM 210-250 in most major retailers/wine & spirit shops around KL.
" Belvedere is a vodka from Poland. Belvedere is distilled solely from a single type of grain, the Dańkowskie Złote rye (compared to others which uses mixed grain etc). The makers claim their methods and practices of manufacturing the vodka trace back over 600 years. Belvedere is marketed as being distilled longer than most other vodkas. (at 4 times, makes it much smoother)
Belvedere, is named after the presidential palace of Poland, comes from a century old distillery in the small town of Zyrardow, just West of Warsaw. Belvedere is made in small batches. First introduced in the US in 1996, Belvedere is marketed in the luxury vodka segment, currently the fastest growing category in distilled spirits”
(Source: wikipedia)
The Taste
Nose: Faint hint of vanilla along with some gentle, soft cream characteristics.
Palate: Full and round with a medium bodied weight and rich, velvety texture. Some vanilla swaying between sweet and savoury with a hint of white pepper and spice.
Finish: Good length with notes of almond, clotted cream and some faint almond and brazil nut characteristics”
(Source: wikipedia)
Personally the spice, when it kicks in, is a bit disruptive. I don’t like Bloody Marys or any spiced-up cocktails so I do not prefer this one too. Spices kill the smooth sensation. At some point it even kills the taste on the cocktail. It makes me thirsty.
I have to admit that it is good, the fusion of taste and all. But I am a simple man and prefer something more natural and neutral. Something like Absolute, Smirrnoff (shaken not stirred) or Finlandia.
Ok, that was the warm up session. I just wanted you to roughly know what Belvedere vodka is and how it taste. The latter is important in due course of reading this post.
We arrived at Sunshine Modern around 9 pm. Checked-in at the counter and went in the club. We didn’t even make it to the door and there were hordes of photographers taking our pictures at the entrance. Not that we are anybody, they’re just doing their job.
It has gotten crowded inside but the event has yet to start.
Belvedere on ice
Nice display
In such circumstance, my conscience told me, “Go to the bar…go to the bar…” and surely, at the bar were Belvedere cocktails waiting for us. And so the journey begins…
The coveted choice of thirst quencher for the night.
GREEN - Cucumber, ORANGE - orange la and RED - Melon
THE VODKA
We met Jason, one of our party friends from previous events. He was alone, with his big SLR camera and without a cocktail in his hand. So we left him be and journeyed on.
Then the MC for the night, the one and only Serena C announced the official launch of the event. She introduced the new attraction at Sunshine Modern, the Belvedere Ice Bar. So celebrities and VIPs officiated the launch and were escorted in the new ice bar where there was a cocktail preparing demo by a pro mixologist.
When the coast was clear, we went in to see what’s the fuss is all about.
All I can say is, no winter clothes, no enter…COLD… It’s small. I don’t think it will fit more that 30. Exclusivity factor is there.
Went out from the ice bar and saw this…
BIG SNAKE…arghhhh!!!. But as soon as the vodka kicked in, we were like…Aaaaa, snake.lalala.
No party with plenty of alcohol comes without their array of finger food. So we makan like no body’s business. There was an incident with FROZEN oysters. But we don’t mind…
Eating food…what’s that on the right? Eating glass???
Nah… it’s just shot-glass made from ice with shots of Belvedere goodness. Shots…after shots…after more shots later… we were veryyy ‘sober’. Hehehe.
This is the best part of the event. Somewhere along the event time line, can’t recall what time (you know why) the MC announced that there was a GRAND prize to be won. Won’t tell you what prize now.
Lucky for us that we were close to the contest ‘stage’ and lucky for P.Dandelion that there was no one else who bothered to come up to the ‘stage’. With a push from me and she was off.
The MC asked for her name and announced what GRAND prize she was contesting for. But before the MC started the contest, she called upon these two fellas to sing for P.Dandelion.
Presenting Ash Nair (Malaysian Idol 4th runner up) on vocals and DJ Blink on BeatBox support. All I can say that it was fun to watch. Didn’t know DJ Blink could BeatBox. Go DJ Go….
What happens next? Does P.Dandelion wins the GRAND prize? What is the GRAND prize? Why am I making suspense end-notes like vintage comic books?
Stay tune… So, that ends the first part of this event post. It is already a lengthy post.
Gtg…event first, blog later.
For a bigger flyer
