I guess I missed this one somehow a couple of weeks ago, but Dan Aykroyd has apparently launched a somewhat, er… unique vodka that comes in a glass skull. Yes, that’s right — a glass skull. Why? Well, you really have to listen to Dan tell the story, and I warn you that it’s not a short story. It’s worth it though, if only to hear the House of Blues founder and former Ghostbusters star talk about the “mystery” of the 13 crystal skulls, which are believed to be thousands of years old, and to have been carved by Mayans using secret techniques, or perhaps given to us by visitors from other planets.
Is any of this even remotely true? Not even close! All the studies of the skulls have shown that they were probably carved sometime in the last 50 or 60 years using common techniques. But hey, that doesn’t make for a great story, so let’s forget about that part. And what does any of this have to do with vodka? Nothing whatsoever! Dan, the smooth-talking salesman that he is, manages to somehow segue from the crystal skull mystery into how vodka is the “most challenging” form of alcohol (whatever that means) and how it’s fitting that this special brew fills this mysterious skull.
But wait — it gets even better! Dan then goes on to tell us that the vodka inside the skull comes from Newfoundland (and you thought they were just known for rum) and that it has been triple-filtered through something called Herkimer diamonds (I am not making this up). Herkimer diamonds, as it turns out, aren’t diamonds at all but a particular kind of glassy quartz. And what does filtering vodka — or anything else for that matter — through these crystals do exactly? Nothing! That’s the best part. But the way Dan and his partner on the Rock talk about it, it’s like a sacred ritual.
Some of the commenters on the Metafilter thread are clearly hoping (perhaps even praying) that this is just some kind of viral campaign for the next Ghostbusters movie, but they are almost certain to be disappointed. Dan may have a crystal skull, but he has clearly lost his marbles.