Four thousand kilometres east of Moscow lies a town on the Trans-Siberian railway where the winters are long and the water is drawn from far below the frost line. Spirits have been made there since 1900, and since 2002 some of it has been called Beluga.
Expert description
Beluga Noble is a Russian Vodka made from malt spirit at the Mariinsk Distillery in Siberia, bottled at 40%.
The base is malt spirit rather than the more common plain grain spirits, and that is part of the explanation for the rounder mouthfeel. The spirit is blended with artesian water from deep wells in the Siberian bedrock and then run through a tall column of birch charcoal, which catches the heaviest compounds.
Then comes the part the house hangs its name on. Small amounts of honey, oat extract and milk thistle extract are added, and the vodka is left to rest for 30 days before it goes into glass. The rest is not cask maturation but a stretch of time in which the components settle down and find one another.
The result is a vodka deliberately softer and sweeter than the classic dry Eastern European style. It is built to be drunk ice cold and neat alongside salty, rich food — caviar is the house recommendation, and it holds up.
Tasting notes
Nose
Pale honey and wet grain, with a touch of vanilla and something mineral underneath.
Palate
Round and almost oily. The malt gives mild sweetness, the oat lays down a creamy film, and only at the end does a dry, herbal edge arrive.
Finish
Soft and medium. The sweetness withdraws slowly and leaves a clean, faintly bitter herbal note.
Specifications
Name: Beluga Noble
Distillery: Mariinsk Distillery
Region/Country: Mariinsk, Siberia, Russia
Type: Russian Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Column distilled malt spirit, filtered through birch charcoal
EAN no.: 4603928000976
Serving suggestion: Ice cold in a frozen glass alongside caviar, or neat with smoked fish and pickled vegetables.
Flavour profile
Soft · Honeyed · Creamy · Clean
Did you know?
Beluga is the name of the beluga sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in the world, which can live for more than a hundred years. It is also the fish the most sought-after caviar comes from — and therefore the fish stamped onto the label.
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