Bari Luys is a brand of the Armenian Shahnazaryan winery, which focuses on the production of wines and brandy. Shahnazaryan is a family company that started the operations in 2005. Bari Luys means “good morning” but the saying is also used as a greeting when raising and clinking a glass. Fruit distillates have a long tradition in Armenia. Shahnazaryan makes several kinds of them, in addition to pomegranate, also grape, apricot and cornel vodkas are in the production. The manufacturer does not tell whether the vodkas are made from distilled wine, fermented and distilled fruit juice, or whether it is just rectified spirit flavored with aromas made from fruit/berries. Bari Luys Pomegranate in a 50 cl bottle costs €9.95 and is sold in a few stores in Latvia and Lithuania.

The nose has aromas of fermented fruit, fruit distillate and copper pot still. A rather original aroma that cannot be combined with pomegranate. The taste has a fruity and berry sweetness that continues until the aftertaste. The sweetness is a bit artificial, a bit similar to what you find in lemonades sweetened with aspartame. The taste has a berry note, but when tasting it blind, you may not combine it to pomegranate. The taste is soft and rather sharp at the same time. Either a fair amount of sweetness has not been able to cover the ethanol bite. When you add water in a 1:1 ratio, the aroma of pomegranate starts to appear. However, the slightly unpleasant sharp ethanol burn is still up. It feels the vodka is made from distilled wine (pomegranate wine is in the company’s product range). If it should have been just a flavored vodka, the pomegranate flavor would probably be much more distinct.

The taste is not very pleasant and after a couple of sips the sweet note starts to bore. Most likely, sugar or other sweetener has been added to soften the taste. The taste is a bit too sweet. Bari Luys is not so pleasant fruit distillate. I didn’t like to sip it and it was also quite difficult to use in cocktails. A sweet, slightly fruity note pushed through the drinks and it didn’t seem to go well with any mixer.

75/100