Not Weird, But Maybe Different

 Costco is recalling Vodka.  While I won't go into detail here, Costco has been receiving complaints on its own Kirkland brand of Vodka produced between June and August of this year, with most complaints saying it tastes and smells like diesel fuel.  First of all, while I enjoy a glass of Cabernet wine from time to time and have been known to enjoy Rum, I am not otherwise a consumer of hard liquor.  But when someone complains about a brand of Vodka, I take notice, because of have enjoyed Kirkland's selection of some wines.

I don't know the taste of Vodka.  But I've had a bottle or two of "corked" wine.  Usually it's from a bottle that has sat upright on a shelf for too long.  A corked wine, as it called, has a distinct vinegar taste and the cork disintegrates as it is removed.  Such wine is simply dumped down the drain.  There isn't much one can do with a bad bottle of wine.  But such wine is so rare that many wine consumers never have had such wine.  

I don't know if whiskey goes bad or other hard liquors.  But anything with a diesel smell or taste seems quite unpleasant at best.  And the seller in this case is responsible.  Probably what happened is that this batch of Vodka wasn't properly sealed and the diesel fumes of the trucks seeped into the bottles.  But that is just a guess on my part.

We once bought a futon mattress that had a strong diesel odor that dissipated in a month or so.  That mattress is years old now and it's still being used.  But once the fumes seep into a bottle of Vodka, that bottle is ruined.  And alcohol is shipped by trucks, but no odor of any kind should seep into the bottles if they are properly sealed.  It's just that this is a rare occurrence and the blame isn't on the shipper, but the supplier.  

When it comes to pipe tobacco, I have never had a bad shipment of tobacco.  Each and every bag or tin I have ever received has been as it should be.  I have had shipments from all sorts of companies that have never had that kind of aroma as described by the complaints of Kirkland Vodka.  But evidently there were enough complaints for Costco to take notice.  

I get a whiff of marine exhaust from the boats as they go by in the canal.  But I have noticed no lingering effects from marine fuel or exhaust from the boats as they go by.  This is good as I sit on the lanai and smoke my pipes.  Today I am smoking my Nording Number two with Eileen's Dream, which I will review in a couple of days.  I smell nothing but the aroma of good pipe tobacco, which is as it should be.  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave