An old power station in Hawick is full of copper again. The town lived on tweed and wool until the mills closed, and in 2018 steam started coming out of the chimney once more. Puffing Billy is the name of the still that steam comes from.
Expert description
Puffing Billy Steam Vodka is a Scottish Vodka from The Borders Distillery in Hawick, distilled from 100% Scottish Borders malted barley and bottled at 40%.
Please note: the distillery sits in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, that is in Scotland close to the English border. Older Danish product listings have placed this vodka in England.
The barley is grown within 35 miles of the distillery, and the house does the whole job itself. First a spirit is pot-distilled from the malted barley, then the distillate takes another trip through a specially commissioned Carterhead still. That still is the one named Puffing Billy, and the bottle is named after it.
A Carterhead still is rare and normally used for gin, where botanicals hang in a basket up in the neck and meet the rising vapour. Here the basket is filled with charcoal instead. The spirit is steamed through the charcoal while still in vapour form, rather than filtered as a liquid afterwards. The house calls it steam smoothed and claims to be the only producer in the world working this way.
The point is that ordinary filtration would take the grain character with it. Because the vodka is never filtered as a liquid, the malt is still in the glass and the texture is distinctly creamy. This is a vodka with something to say, even on its own.
Tasting notes
Nose
Surprisingly fruity for a vodka. Tropical fruit and citrus peel sit on top, with a soft malted layer underneath.
Palate
Creamy and round. Foam banana and a light vanilla sweetness from the barley, followed by a point of white pepper.
Finish
Medium and soft. The grain sweetness slides away slowly and leaves a clean, almost milky impression behind.
Specifications
Name: Puffing Billy Steam Vodka
Distillery: The Borders Distillery
Region/Country: Hawick, Scottish Borders, Scotland
Type: Scottish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Pot distilled from malted barley and redistilled in a Carterhead still, steamed through charcoal, unfiltered
EAN no.: 5060395417246
Serving suggestion: Neat over ice, in an Espresso Martini where the creamy texture carries the coffee, or in a mule with apple juice and ginger beer.
Flavour profile
Creamy · Malted · Tropical fruit · Unfiltered
Did you know?
The Borders Distillery occupies the town's nineteenth-century electricity works and was the first malt whisky distillery in the Scottish Borders for almost two hundred years. The region had not had a single one since 1837.
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