This bottle of Impuls Honey Vodka is something of a time capsule — estimated to date from the early 1990s, produced by Poland's state-owned Polmos distillery system during a period of profound national change. Finding bottles of this vintage is increasingly rare, and drinking one is a genuinely unusual experience.
The decades in bottle have transformed this from what was likely a simple honey-flavoured vodka into something more complex and intriguing. The nose offers rich honey and beeswax, with dried flowers and an aged, oxidative quality that recalls old mead or sherry. There is depth here that was certainly never part of the original brief.
On the palate, the honey sweetness is still very much present, but it has developed a waxy texture and secondary flavours of heather honey, dried apricot and a faint herbal bitterness that add considerable interest. The spirit itself has softened with age, making this an easy, contemplative sipper.
At under thirteen pounds, this is one of the most affordable ways to taste a genuine vintage spirit, even if it was never intended to be aged. A curiosity, certainly, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. Approach it with an open mind.
