Oh My God It Burns! » Practical Applications of the Philosopher’s stone. For drunks.
Tested this today. It works. Did a blind taste test for my wife. She happened to select the “before” vodka first. She made a horrible face. (She isn’t a giant fan of vodka to begin with…) I said, “You’re praying that’s the ‘before’ one, aren’t you?'” Then she tasted the “after” and agreed it was extremely, extremely smooth in comparison. (The “before” was Rikaloff vodka from Monumental Distilling Co. in Maryland, and seems likely to be comparable to the “Vladimir” used in the experiment. It was about the same price: under $12 for 1.75 liters; strong wood alcohol-like smell and a brutal aftertaste in the “before” state.)
I don’t have any Ketel One to do a taste test against, but the process does produce extremely smooth, potable vodka.
Now I’ve got her hooked on the idea of using the resultant smooth vodka to create tasty infusions, perhaps to give as presents to friends at the annual “friends of Rick from college” post-Christmas party.