P-Diddy Endorsement, is it worth it?

 

While in South Beach this last week, I had a chance to sample some great drinks (we really mixed it up this time) and party with some friends.

While at the club MANGOS, I saw everyone drinking  a vodka named  Ciroc.  Now, when I say EVERYONE, I mean everyone.  Aside from me ordering Bushmills 16 and my friend Rick eventually buying a bottle of Tequila (I don’t even want to know what SoBe prices were on that), I honestly believe that vodka was the only thing being poured at this place. 

Always the adventurous type, I thought I would try a few.

As a mixer, it seemed to work well in the three local cocktails I had.  No, I didn't drink a Cosmo…..and really the local drink names didn’t stick with me.  Most were very fruity and all seemed to focus on the bartenders ability to use a shaker……vs the drink itself.

I did do an iced shot of Ciroc, and this is where it caught me a little off-guard.  The taste took me back to Katterbach Kaserne. 

Allow me to explain.

Way back in my Army days, we used to have things called “Alerts”.  These were exercises to test our readiness to deploy anywhere (although usually just to our border area) in the world.  It usually involved everyone being awoken at 3:00AM, grabbing all gear and weapons, heading to the motor pool and getting our vehicles deployed.

It was a huge pain in the ass, and intended to be a surprise to catch everyone of guard…..so naturally every knew of them in advance.

Anyway, a typical evening prior to Alerts would be spent at the Enlisted Club, where we would see who could drink the most and still perform the next morning.  The two most popular drinks were shots of tequila and POPOV Vodka.   Yes POPOV, the plastic bottle elixir of death.   A Vodka so horrible, that you can smell it seeping from your pours the next day (as any Soldier who has done an Alert or Friday PT).

Needless to say, the next mornings were rough……with a ghastly aftertaste left in your mouth, and THIS was the first memory invoked by Ciroc.

The taste was similar to a cross between gasoline and rubbing alcohol.  If I hadn’t seen the bartender pour it with my own eyes, I would have sworn he did a bait and switch.

The nose was rough and unfiltered, again taking me back to those days where you could smell people sweating booze during a PT Run.

Without strong overlying mixes to cover it up, this stuff was a train wreck.

Interestingly, I just found a quote from Sean “P-Diddy” Combs, the main spokesman for Ciroc…….

"If you're not drinking Ciroc vodka, then you're drinking pee pee."

Combs has a multiyear strategic partnership worth up to $100 million with Ciroc and receives a 50 percent share of profits, while I don’t get anything from them what-so-ever. 

I don’t know who’s opinion you trust, but if P-Diddy’s Opinion is what counts, I would rather drink THIS.