Best vodka bottles: Budmo

Post photo by Viktor Suvorov This cognac will slice right through you.

    There are those who believe that telling someone you buy vodka for the bottles is akin to saying you buy Playboy for the articles. They’ve never been to Budmo, a small shop on Andriyvsky Uzviz. After all, who would spend Hr 110 for three quarters of a liter of vodka with the going price for a half-liter of palatable vodka (that is, not the stuff filtered through rusty nails) costs about Hr 8?

Someone looking for a funky bottle, of course. And that market is cornered by Budmo. We can’t testify about the quality of the vodka sold, as we try not to drink on the job. Well, at least hard liquor. Usually. But we digress. The fact is, the bottles are really neat.

Take the gun shaped bottle. The .75 liter bottle costs Hr 110 and is shaped like a rifle. God knows why it’s shaped like a rifle, but it is pretty cool. For pacifists, they have an infinitely more boring barrel bottle whose only consolation is more bang for your buck. A liter costs Hr 69. For the same price, you can buy a liter-sized bell-shaped bottle.

Then there are the ceramic bottles, for those who like pouring drinks out of the heads of drunken Cossacks. A liter bottle of a Cossack in traditional dress starts at Hr 48. These bottles are neat, if you ignore the excise stamp that sticks like a Band-Aid over his forehead.

Even better are the two-liter Cossack heads for Hr 315. These jolly, cartoonish heads look like the designer helped himself to a drop before setting down to work.

Other novelties include soccer-ball-shaped bottles (Hr 54) and sets that include a couple of bottles, a wooden stand and glasses (from Hr 600). They even diversify and offer a glass sword full of the Armenian cognac Artashat for Hr 142 (see photo). From our experience during non-working hours, it is pretty good stuff.

And to round out the selection, Budma offers a selection of juices. After all, even people who buy vodka for the bottle need chasers.

©KYIV POST