Notes: Another in our series of “Fear Factor comes to whiskey tasting.” No one has ever reviewed anything remotely like these before in any literature I have found, possibly for good reason. I seriously doubt you will see this commercially imported.

“Real Vine Snake whiskey is infused with a real farm raised vine snake, ginseng roots and seed pods. The whiskey is left for several months, which then imparts a unique flavour into the whiskey, it is quite an acquired taste.
The story is that this is used in SE Asia as a very strong Aphrodisiac; and it also has many medical uses, such as the treatment of back and muscle pain.”

I don’t want to know how they got this into the bottle, there has to be about 1 1/2 feet of snake in there.This particular species of vine snake is considered to be a catagory 2: “unlikely to bite but inflicts serious to lethal bite.” It is from the same family as the boomslang.

This company also has a Cobra Whiskey with a cobra in the bottle. We have also tried a number of other similar whiskeys, such as Habushu or Habu Pit Viper Whiskey, Absinth Beetle, and the full range of Scorpion Mezcal .

Appearance: Light green -slightly iridescent, almost like vaseline glass- colored, on swirling leaves thin coating on the glass, a few legs developing after a while- thin to medium body.

First Impression: Soy sauce, hot pepper notes, sesame, earthy soy notes – ginger, maybe galangal?

Taste: Spicy, hot taste, almost like drinking a soy sauce or miso and alcohol with notes of ginseng and galangal root. Actually better than theCobra Whiskey we tried earlier. Same slightly disquieting numbing of every part that comes into contact with it. Finish is hot and long.

After 5 minutes I can’t feel the back of my tongue or throat anymore.Slight tingling effects in certain extremities and well, shall we say other areas, along with numbing – yes, I can see what they mean… hmm…

Drinks: No known recipes for this one. Probably Thai coffee or Singha chaser.

Cigars: Sher bidi or Thai tobacco.

Final Thoughts: An interesting, if potentially neurotoxic, whiskey. A very different type of whisky for someone seeking something unique.The whiskey itself is a good grade of rice whiskey – I’ve had worse, but the other components add some unique layers of flavor. If you have any known allergies to venoms or if you have bleeding gums this could be very bad for you. Otherwise a unique experience.

Highly recommended as a truly one of a kind addition/gift for the whiskey lover to scare children and adults alike.

Bottle: The bottle is clear glass which shows off the color of the whiskey and the sundry ingredients to good effect. There is no label of any kind. Plain white screw cap and inner plastic cap plug to preserve flavor.Indecipherable graphics adorn the back side of bottle in pressed glass. Vine snake is artfully arranged in bottle.

Web site: http://thailandunique.com 

Chock full of gourmet foods and drinks- snake, scorpion, and lizard whiskies, all manner of highly “unique” items