In an industrial estate in Battersea sits a distillery that has turned the usual idea of vodka upside down. It does not buy spirit in and dilute it. It buys wheat, ferments it on site and then refuses to filter what comes out.
Expert description
Baller Vodka is an English Vodka from Doghouse Distillery in Battersea, London, distilled from scratch from English wheat, unfiltered and bottled at 40%.
Doghouse opened in Battersea in 2016 and calls itself the only distillery in London making its own base spirit from grain to bottle across several categories. That is rarer than you might think. Most gin producers worldwide, and a fair share of vodka producers, buy neutral spirit in and work on from there.
The wheat is English, and the house controls the whole road from wash to bottling. The decisive choice arrives at the end: Baller is not filtered. Filtration would pull the grain character out, and instead the wheat is allowed to stay in the glass as a soft biscuit sweetness with a spiced glint.
The names and labels belong to the same story. The house range is built around music genres, and the labels are drawn by artists rather than design agencies. Baller carries a double-sided label by a street artist, so the bottle works whichever way round it stands on the back bar.
Tasting notes
Nose
Mild and cereal-led. Fresh wheat bread and a touch of dried coconut, with no sharp alcohol edge.
Palate
Soft and full. Vanilla biscuit fills the middle, with a suggestion of clove and white pepper behind it.
Finish
Medium and smooth. The grain sweetness drops away calmly and leaves a round mouthfeel behind.
Specifications
Name: Baller Vodka
Distillery: Doghouse Distillery
Region/Country: Battersea, London, England
Type: English Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Distilled from scratch from English wheat, unfiltered
Serving suggestion: Neat over ice, or in an Espresso Martini where the biscuit sweetness carries the coffee.
Flavour profile
Vanilla biscuit · Soft · Unfiltered · Cereal
Did you know?
Baller was named Best Spirit in Great Britain at the 2019 Great British Food Awards and collected gold at the World Vodka Awards the same year. Doghouse also makes a Baller variant flavoured with chilli and bacon, which is exactly as direct as the name suggests.
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