X MUSE is fast becoming the darling of the art world, thanks to two consecutive pop-up art bars at the Venice Biennale vernissage, supporting the Edinburgh Art Festival and being the spirit of choice when leading contemporary art galleries host their most sophisticated events.
With its unique blend of two heritage barleys and pure water, drawn from its award-winning spiritual homeland, Jupiter Artland, the vodka embodies art itself, including a luxurious bottle design inspired by the curvaceous landforms of Charles Jencks’s, Cells of Life, which frames an ancient aquifer at the sculpture park.
X MUSE Vodka makes the perfect martini, but for a refreshing long serve, we also recommend ‘Strangers in Scotland’, the art-fuelled cocktail, that invites you to toast ‘Foreigners Everywhere’, (the Venice Biennale’s 60th curatorial theme).
Strangers in Scotland
Inspired by the curatorial theme of the 60th Venice Arte Biennale, ‘Foreigners Everywhere’.
Concept by X MUSE Co-founder & Artistic Director Vadim Grigoryan and mixology by Michele Gadaleta.
Ingredients
40ml X MUSE Vodka
10ml Campari (a nod to Venice)
20ml Raspberry Syrup (the raspberry is an ‘immigrant’ which thrives in Scotland)
40ml Blueberry Juice (as above – the blueberry is also not indigenous to Scotland)
Method
Shake all ingredients and double strain in a clean tumbler with big 5×5 ice cube
Optional: Top with Marjoram foam
THE STORY OF X MUSE VODKA + JUPITER ARTLAND
The brand’s name is drawn from the Xth MUSE bust of Sappho by Scottish poet, artist and gardener Ian Hamilton Finlaywhich resides at Jupiter Artland. The vodka’s exceptional quality arises from the careful orchestration of Plumage Archer and Maris Otter barley, combined with water drawn from an ancient aquifer at the heart of the estate, framed by the monumental land art commission Cells of Life by architect, artist and gardener Charles Jencks (the undulating curved lines of which are echoed in the vodka bottle’s shape).
During the alcohol reduction process, a small amount of this water is added to the vodka. These ‘Magic Drops’ have been energized in a glass vortex and rested on amethyst crystals in reference to British artist Anya Gallaccio’s amethyst grotto also, on view at Jupiter Artland.
X MUSE AT THE VENICE ARTE BIENNALE’S 60TH VERNISSAGE
X MUSE has made waves at Frieze, White Cube, Goodman Gallery, Thaddeus Ropac, Hauser and Wirth and, most recently, with its Art Bar residency at the Navy Officer’s Club, to coincide with the Venice Biennale of Arte’s 60th vernissage.
X MUSE STOCKISTS
X MUSE VODKA (70cl) has a RRP of £49.50 at Fortnum & Mason and is available for purchase on the X MUSE website and at select retailers, including Hedonism, Petersham Cellar, Master of Malt, Amazon UK, The Whisky Exchange, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols. X MUSE is also available in France, in partnership with La Maison du Whisky and listed in over 100 prestigious bars across London and Edinburgh.
CEO and Co-founder Robert Wilson emphasises the challenge of creating a vodka that stands on its own merits, stating, “It cannot be bolstered by botanicals or aged in oak barrels. It must stand on its own. This is the measure of X MUSE.”
The X MUSE experience extends beyond the bottle, with Milan-based design studio Formafantasma’s X MUSE Temple at Jupiter Artland with hosted helicon tasting workshops available to book through their website when the contemporary sculpture park is open April-September.
Follow X MUSE on Instagram @tenthmusevodka #tenthmusevodka #creativesource #xmuse