Pour it out and you get blue. Taste it and you get orange. Cuba Orange is one of the few bottles where colour and flavour deliberately disagree, and that is exactly why it ends up in so many drinks.

Expert description

Cuba Orange is a Danish Vodka Spirit Drink from Spritfabrikken Danmark in Kolding, made with triple distilled vodka flavoured with sweet oranges and bottled at 30%.

The clear blue colour is not a mistake but the whole point. It makes it easy to build drinks that look like something without keeping blue curacao on the shelf. Mixed with clear soda the glass turns turquoise, and with orange juice it lands somewhere between green and brown.

On the palate this is ripe orange rather than orange peel. The sweetness is obvious, the acidity is held back, and the base is vodka distilled three times. The strength of 30% is why the label reads spirit drink made with vodka instead of vodka.

The house classic is called Isbjørn and consists of Cuba Orange and Sprite, while Viper uses lemon soda. The producer also points to a less obvious route: a splash in coffee, topped with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

Tasting notes

Nose

Sweet orange straight away, more juice than peel. Behind it sits a light candied edge and a touch of sugar.

Palate

Juicy and round. The orange fills the middle with barely any acidity, and the vodka stays below the surface the whole way through.

Finish

Short and sweet with a last brush of citrus before the sugar lets go.

Specifications

Name: Cuba Orange
Producer: Spritfabrikken Danmark
Region/Country: Kolding, Denmark
Type: Danish Vodka Spirit Drink
ABV: 30%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Triple distilled
EAN no.: 5706844501059
Serving suggestion: With clear soda over plenty of ice, or a splash in coffee topped with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

Flavour profile

Sweet orange · Citrus · Sweet · Mixable

Did you know?

The name Cuba has nothing to do with the island. It was chosen in 1998 because it suggested beach, party, colour and salsa, and the entire range is developed and produced in Denmark.

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There is a particular red you only meet in late summer and in this bottle. Cuba Strawberry is strawberry without a season, poured into a tall glass with plenty of ice and something fizzy to follow.

Expert description

Cuba Strawberry is a Danish Vodka Spirit Drink from Spritfabrikken Danmark in Kolding, flavoured with ripe strawberries and bottled at 30%.

The bottle belongs to the colourful half of the range, where flavour leads and alcohol stays in the background. That is exactly why the label reads spirit drink made with vodka rather than vodka: 30% falls below the strength that the category demands.

The strawberry is sweet and ripe rather than tart, and the colour does part of the work in the glass. The producer recommends it chilled, ideally shaken with ice or lengthened with soda and juice. It turns up in the house Strawberry Mojito, where lime and mint pull the sweetness back into place.

Served lukewarm the berry quickly turns sticky. Cold and over plenty of ice it is one of the easiest bottles to build a pink drink on, and it handles both citrus and carbonation without splitting.

Tasting notes

Nose

Ripe strawberries straight away, close to boiled sweets. Behind them sits a faintly creamy tone and a soft breath of sugar.

Palate

Sweet and full with the berry in front all the way. The vodka lies underneath as a soft floor and gives structure without letting the alcohol poke through.

Finish

Short and sugary. The berry hangs around for a moment, and then the glass is empty of flavour again.

Specifications

Name: Cuba Strawberry
Producer: Spritfabrikken Danmark
Region/Country: Kolding, Denmark
Type: Danish Vodka Spirit Drink
ABV: 30%
Size: 70 CL
EAN no.: 5706844500007
Serving suggestion: Shaken with ice and topped with sparkling water, or in a Strawberry Mojito with lime, mint and cane sugar.

Flavour profile

Ripe strawberry · Sweet · Soft · Candied

Did you know?

The whole range was developed in a private kitchen, where several blenders burned out along the way. The first variant was ready in March 1998, and 100 litres were driven to a trade fair in Herning, where more orders were placed than could be produced.

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In 1995 a man stood in a kitchen in Kolding, burning out one blender after another while chasing a vodka with flavour. Cuba Pure Vodka is the bottle where he kept his hands off the flavour. Clean, cool and ready to be mixed with whatever you have on the shelf.

Expert description

Cuba Pure Vodka is a Danish Vodka Spirit Drink from Spritfabrikken Danmark in Kolding, built on triple distilled vodka and bottled at 37.5%.

The range behind the bottle is the largest Danish selection of flavoured vodka, and it started in a private kitchen. Pure is the odd one out. No fruit, no colour, no sweetness. What you get is the base that every colourful sibling is built on top of.

The vodka is distilled three times and filtered, and you can taste it on the edges. Very little bite is left, and that is the point. The producer suggests everything from juice and soda to energy drink as a mixer, and the bottle holds its ground in a Moscow Mule without being flattened by the ginger.

The rest of the range sits at 30% and is sold as spirit drinks made with vodka. Pure sits higher, which makes it the driest and most neutral member of the family. If you want it neat, give it time in the freezer first.

Tasting notes

Nose

Very discreet. A trace of sweet grain and a hint of citrus peel, otherwise clean and cool with no sharp spirit fumes.

Palate

Soft and gently sweet through the middle. No peppery bite, just a rounded grain note and a faint touch of vanilla before it moves on.

Finish

Short and clean. The warmth drops away quickly and leaves no bitterness behind on the palate.

Specifications

Name: Cuba Pure Vodka
Producer: Spritfabrikken Danmark
Region/Country: Kolding, Denmark
Type: Danish Vodka Spirit Drink
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Triple distilled
Serving suggestion: Ice cold in a Moscow Mule with ginger beer and fresh lime, or simply mixed with apple juice.

Flavour profile

Clean · Soft · Neutral · Mixable

Did you know?

EU rules demand at least 37.5% alcohol before anything may be called vodka. Cuba Pure Vodka lands exactly on that line, while its coloured siblings sit at 30% and therefore have to be labelled spirit drink instead.

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Put a brushed aluminium bottle in the freezer and a quarter of an hour later it is cold all the way through. Glass needs an evening. That is the kind of practical logic Danish design usually gets praised for, and Danzka has lived off it since 1989.

Expert description

Danzka Premium Danish Vodka is a Danish Vodka made from 100% whole wheat grain, distilled through six columns and bottled at 40%.

The name is a piece of wordplay, but the recipe is plain. The wheat becomes a spirit that runs continuously through six columns, then through three filtrations, before being brought down with soft demineralised water. No botanicals, no added sugar, no theatre. Everything rests on the cleanliness and on the light citrus note that lingers afterwards.

The bottle deserves its own paragraph. Aluminium conducts heat far faster than glass, so it chills in the freezer in a fraction of the time and stays cold in the hand while you pour. It also cannot shatter in a suitcase, which explains a great deal about why Danzka has spent decades on travel retail shelves across Scandinavia.

The one litre bottle is the version you buy when something is being made for several people. It does not run dry the first time a round of Moscow Mules is called for, and it sits lighter in the hand than the volume suggests, precisely because the metal is thin. The brand was bought in 2013 by the German family firm Waldemar Behn, which has kept both the recipe and the shape of the bottle.

Tasting notes

Nose

Clean and coolly neutral on the first pass. Behind it sits a dry grain note and a clear stroke of lemon peel.

Palate

A soft opening with almost no bite. The wheat lays down a mild sweetness in the middle, citrus cuts up through it, and a light peppery warmth arrives last.

Finish

Short and dry. The lemon peel holds longest and no sweetness is left behind.

Specifications

Name: Danzka Premium Danish Vodka
Producer: Danzka
Region/Country: Denmark
Type: Danish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 100 CL
Distillation method: Continuous distillation through six columns, triple filtered
Serving suggestion: Ice cold from the freezer in a small glass, or in a Moscow Mule with lime and ginger beer.

Flavour profile

Clean · Soft · Citrus · Lightly grain sweet

Did you know?

The name is built from the word Danish and a Slavic ending. The letter s has been swapped for a z and ka hung on the back, so the word sounds Eastern European without being it. Everything else about the vodka is Danish — only the name leans east.

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Behind a bar there are bottles you pour from and bottles you point at. Three litres of frosted glass with a palace printed down the side belongs to the second kind. It does not get put away when the evening ends.

Expert description

Belvedere Ultra Premium is a Polish Vodka made from Dankowskie rye, distilled four times and bottled at 40% in a 300 cl bottle.

At this size the bottle becomes furniture. The frosted surface catches light differently from clear glass, and the image of the Belweder Palace with its bare trees spreads across an area where the detail finally becomes properly legible. Put a light source behind it and the palace draws itself through the glass.

The vodka inside is the regular house expression. Dankowskie rye from Polish fields is run once at an agricultural distillery and then three times through column stills at Polmos Żyrardów, where it is blended with water from artesian wells on the grounds. There are no additives whatsoever, and as a Polish Vodka there may not be.

The rye character is the entire point behind a bar. Belvedere carries enough body to be felt through citrus, ginger and coffee alike, and because it has not been distilled down to plain neutrality, two drinks built on it do not simply resemble each other in different colours.

Tasting notes

Nose

Toasted bread and white pepper, with a touch of vanilla behind. The aroma is broad rather than sharp.

Palate

A soft start where the rye sits creamy in the middle, before a spiced warmth rises and stays put.

Finish

Long and dry. The pepper holds, and a nutty, almost floury impression turns up at the end.

Specifications

Name: Belvedere Ultra Premium
Distillery: Polmos Żyrardów
Region/Country: Żyrardów, Poland
Type: Polish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 300 CL
Distillation method: Four times distilled
EAN no.: 5901041003164
Serving suggestion: Pour it slowly into an Espresso Martini, where the rye can hold its ground against the coffee.

Flavour profile

Spiced · Creamy · Toasted · Long

Did you know?

Belvedere sits within LVMH, the French luxury group that also owns Moët, Hennessy and Dom Pérignon. That is why a Polish rye vodka keeps company with champagne and cognac inside the same portfolio.

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Every party has a moment when the bottle moves onto the table instead of staying in the kitchen. A 175 cl bottle of frosted glass with a lit palace on the side is built for precisely that moment.

Expert description

Belvedere Ultra Premium is a Polish Vodka made from Dankowskie rye, distilled four times and bottled at 40% in a 175 cl bottle.

The large format is aimed at the host. An extra litre and a half over the standard means you do not have to disappear into the kitchen for a fresh bottle halfway through a round, and every drink comes from the same bottle all evening. The weight is noticeable, but you can still hold it by the neck with one hand if you support the base.

The liquid is the regular house expression. The rye is Dankowskie from Polish fields, the water comes from artesian wells beneath Polmos Żyrardów, and distillation runs four times: once at an agricultural distillery and three times through column stills at the plant in Żyrardów. No additives, no sugar, no glycerol.

In company it is the rye that does the work. It gives the vodka enough body that a Moscow Mule or a Cosmopolitan does not simply taste of whatever was poured on top. When drinks are being built one after another, it helps to have a base you can still detect in glass number five.

Tasting notes

Nose

Dry grain aroma with baked bread and a little cream caramel. A cool mineral pull sits underneath.

Palate

Full and lightly oily. The rye arrives first as mild sweetness, then as a clear peppered warmth across the middle of the tongue.

Finish

Dry and spiced, with a touch of bitterness at the edge. It lets go slowly.

Specifications

Name: Belvedere Ultra Premium
Distillery: Polmos Żyrardów
Region/Country: Żyrardów, Poland
Type: Polish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 175 CL
Distillation method: Four times distilled
EAN no.: 5901041003423
Serving suggestion: Cold in Moscow Mule mugs with ginger beer and lime, or in a large jug of Cosmopolitan.

Flavour profile

Full · Peppered · Bready · Dry

Did you know?

Belvedere carries the Polska Wódka designation. It is protected in the same way as Cognac and Champagne and demands that the grain is grown in Poland, that the entire production takes place in Poland, and that nothing but water is added. Only a handful of brands are allowed to use it.

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A properly ripe mango can barely be cut. The flesh gives way under the knife, the smell fills the kitchen, and you end up eating it over the sink. That is the image this bottle works from.

Expert description

Ciroc Mango is a French Vodka built on French wine grapes, infused with natural mango flavour and bottled at 37.5%.

The foundation is once again the grape spirit from Maison Villevert, distilled five times and bottled without any ageing. The mango goes on after distillation, and the producer highlights the mouthfeel in particular: there is a clear, almost pulpy weight that sets it apart from the more citrus driven expressions in the range.

Mango is one of the hardest fruits to pin down in a spirit, because the aroma easily turns perfumed. Here it is held down by the dryness of the grape base, which cuts through the sweetness and pulls it back towards something more genuinely fruity. The vodka is gluten free.

Tasting notes

Nose

Ripe mango with the skin on, sweet and almost resinous. A small lift of lime sits underneath and keeps the aroma awake.

Palate

Full and thick in feel. The mango spreads across the whole tongue with tropical sweetness while the grape base slowly draws it dry again towards the end.

Finish

Warm and fruity with moderate length. The sweetness falls away evenly and leaves a lightly tart edge behind, closer to the skin than the flesh.

Specifications

Name: Ciroc Mango
Distillery: Ciroc
Region/Country: Cognac, France
Type: French Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Five times distilled
EAN no.: 5010103939874
Serving suggestion: In a Mango Tango with lime juice and mango puree, or topped with dry sparkling wine as a Mango Mimosa.

Flavour profile

Ripe mango · Full bodied · Tropical sweetness · Soft

Did you know?

The mango variant arrived in 2016 and the launch was run with DJ Khaled as its public face. It came during a stretch where Ciroc released a new flavour almost every year, each one paired with its own ambassador.

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Pineapple has two sides. The sweet golden core, and the sharp acidity right out by the skin that prickles slightly on the tongue. This bottle tries to hold on to both at once.

Expert description

Ciroc Pineapple is a French Vodka built on French wine grapes, infused with natural pineapple flavour and bottled at 37.5%.

Underneath the flavour sits the same grape vodka as the rest of the range, distilled four times in column stills and a fifth time in the copper pot still. The producer calls the pineapple the most versatile expression in the line up, which is not far off: it handles citrus soda, orange juice and more pineapple on top equally well.

The acidity the pineapple brings is why this variant rarely becomes cloying. Where coconut and peach add weight, pineapple pulls the other way and sharpens the drink. That makes it the obvious Ciroc flavour when you are mixing for a crowd. The vodka is gluten free.

Tasting notes

Nose

Freshly cut pineapple, distinctly golden and slightly green at the edge. A lightly sour note sits behind it, closer to the skin than to the flesh.

Palate

Juicy and lively. Sweetness leads but is quickly overtaken by a tropical acidity running down the sides of the tongue. The grape base keeps the middle soft.

Finish

Fresh and reasonably short. The acidity clears up after the sweetness and leaves a light bite that makes the next sip easy.

Specifications

Name: Ciroc Pineapple
Distillery: Ciroc
Region/Country: Cognac, France
Type: French Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Five times distilled
EAN no.: 5010103937146
Serving suggestion: With lemon lime soda and a wedge of lime, or in a French Fizz with pineapple juice, lime juice and raspberries.

Flavour profile

Juicy pineapple · Tropical · Fresh acidity · Lightly sweet

Did you know?

The pineapple variant reached the market in 2014. The fruit has since also formed the basis of Ciroc Summer Colada, a limited edition where pineapple and coconut share a bottle, and which owes its balance precisely to the acidity pineapple brings.

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Late summer, a peach that is one day past perfect, and juice running down the wrist. That is the sensation this bottle chases. Not tinned fruit, but the short window where the peach is at its peak and about to give up entirely.

Expert description

Ciroc Peach is a French Vodka built on French wine grapes, infused with natural peach flavour and bottled at 37.5%.

The base is the five times distilled grape vodka from Maison Villevert, and peach has been laid over it along with a set of lighter orchard notes. The producer highlights the rich, smooth texture, and it shows: of the whole Ciroc range this is the expression that fills the most mouth.

The fruit was chosen to work with the grape rather than against it. Stone fruit and white grape share a floral, faintly honeyed character, which is why the peach does not sit on the spirit like a foreign object. The vodka is gluten free.

Tasting notes

Nose

Ripe yellow peach with the skin on, and behind it a bright note of apricot and white flowers. There is no tartness in the aroma, only fruit sweetness.

Palate

Rich and smooth with clear stone fruit. The sweetness is round and broad rather than sharp, and a faintly bitter kernel note sits behind it to keep things interesting.

Finish

Soft and reasonably long. The peach lets go slowly, and a dry grape note arrives at the end to tidy up after it.

Specifications

Name: Ciroc Peach
Distillery: Ciroc
Region/Country: Cognac, France
Type: French Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Five times distilled
EAN no.: 5010103934374
Serving suggestion: In an On the Beach with cranberry and orange juice, or cold with soda water and a slice of peach.

Flavour profile

Ripe peach · Rich · Juicy · Soft finish

Did you know?

Peach was the third flavour in the range and arrived in 2011, the year after Red Berry and Coconut. Ciroc's own serve for it is called On the Beach and consists of nothing but the vodka, cranberry juice and orange juice. No peach liqueur is needed, because the fruit already sits in the bottle.

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Coconut is one of those flavours that almost always gets overdone. Sun cream, cake batter, white syrup. The ambition here is different: the coconut should read like something just grated off a fresh nut, not something poured from a bottle with a parasol attached.

Expert description

Ciroc Coconut is a French Vodka built on French wine grapes, infused with natural coconut and tropical fruit flavour and bottled at 37.5%.

The spirit itself is identical to the unflavoured Ciroc. The grapes are fermented into wine, run four times through column stills and a fifth time through the copper pot still at Maison Villevert. The flavours go in afterwards. The producer describes the aroma as freshly grated coconut and vanilla, and that is exactly the line the bottle holds.

Coconut and grape make more sense together than you might expect. The grape base already carries a lightly oily texture, and it amplifies the creamy sensation the nut brings along. The liquid is clear in the glass rather than milky, and it is gluten free.

Tasting notes

Nose

Freshly grated coconut flesh with a layer of soft vanilla laid over it. Further in sits a green, almost milky note from the young nut.

Palate

Creamy without turning heavy. Coconut occupies the whole middle while a light tropical fruit sweetness pushes in from the side. The alcohol barely registers.

Finish

Soft and persistent. Vanilla lingers longest, and right at the very end the grape base reappears as a dry line.

Specifications

Name: Ciroc Coconut
Distillery: Ciroc
Region/Country: Cognac, France
Type: French Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Five times distilled
EAN no.: 5010103995641
Serving suggestion: Over crushed ice with lime juice and lime soda, or as the base of a Pina Colada with real pineapple.

Flavour profile

Coconut · Creamy · Tropical · Vanilla sweet

Did you know?

Coconut was one of the very first flavour variants in the range. It arrived in 2010 alongside Red Berry, and the pair opened the whole line that later produced Peach, Pineapple, Apple and Mango.

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A green apple bites back. That is the whole point of this bottle: not ripe, soft apple juice, but the sharp jaw twinge you get from the first bite of an apple that is still a little too firm.

Expert description

Ciroc Apple is a French Vodka built on French wine grapes, infused with natural apple flavour and bottled at 37.5%.

The base is the same vodka as the unflavoured expression: Mauzac Blanc and Ugni Blanc fermented into wine, distilled four times in column stills and a fifth time in a copper pot still. Only afterwards is the apple flavour added. The order matters, because the spirit has already been cleaned up by the time the flavour arrives, so the apple settles on top of the grape rather than mixing into it.

The grape base is no accident for this particular variant either. Apple and white grape share a good deal of the same fresh acidity, which is why the apple note reads bright and sharp rather than like confectionery. The vodka is gluten free, as is the rest of the range.

Tasting notes

Nose

Freshly cut green apple with the skin left on. A cooler, almost stalky green note sits behind it and keeps the sweetness in check.

Palate

Crisp and tart from the first sip. Apple fills the front of the tongue while the grape base provides a soft cushion underneath. The sweetness is clear but never sticky.

Finish

Cleansing and short. The acidity hangs around for a moment, then everything dries out neatly and leaves the mouth ready for the next sip.

Specifications

Name: Ciroc Apple
Distillery: Ciroc
Region/Country: Cognac, France
Type: French Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Five times distilled
EAN no.: 5010103938235
Serving suggestion: Ice cold with fresh lime and ginger beer, or in an Appletini with a dry vermouth.

Flavour profile

Crisp apple · Fresh acidity · Lightly sweet · Clean finish

Did you know?

The apple variant reached the market in 2015 with green apple as its reference point. Ciroc's own recommended serve is called the Pomme Spritz, pomme being French for apple, mixing the vodka with pressed apple juice, lime, pomegranate juice and ginger beer.

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A man reads Russian philosophy and metaphysics, and somewhere along the way decides to make vodka instead. He teaches himself the craft, borrows space at a small distillery and fills 75 litres at a time. The bottles are named after a clumsy bear.

Expert description

Den Klodsede Bjørn Vodka is a Danish Vodka distilled from Danish barley and wheat malt and bottled unfiltered at 40%.

Behind the bottle stands Frederik Plum, a self taught distiller who began making vodka in 2013, the same year his son was born. He works at Trolden Distillery, where the malt is both malted and brewed on site before it ever reaches the stills.

Distillation runs three times through small Portuguese copper pot stills. A batch is 75 litres and yields somewhere between 150 and 170 bottles, each of them numbered by hand. It is not a way of working that scales, and it is not meant to.

The decisive choice is that the distillate is never filtered. Ordinary vodka is usually run through activated charcoal, which strips out both faults and character. Here the grain stays in, giving a creamy, almost dairy texture and a peppery spice you do not normally associate with vodka.

Tasting notes

Nose

White pepper first, then something mineral like rain on warm stone. Below sits white bread, caraway and a trace of aniseed.

Palate

Creamy and almost dairy sweet in the middle with a clear minerality. White and black pepper clean the mouth again before the sweetness can turn heavy.

Finish

Creamy bread and cracked black pepper. The spice hangs on longest and makes it far more characterful than most.

Specifications

Name: Den Klodsede Bjørn Vodka
Distillery: Trolden Distillery
Bottler: Den Klodsede Bjørn
Region/Country: Denmark
Type: Danish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 50 CL
Distillation method: Triple distilled in small Portuguese copper pot stills, unfiltered
Serving suggestion: Fridge cold in a small glass, or in a Vodka Martini where the pepper gets room.

Flavour profile

Creamy · Mineral · Peppery · Unfiltered

Did you know?

The letters V.A.M.P. on the label are not a nod to vampires. They are the initials of his son's four names, Vladimir Asbjørn Munk Plum, born in the very year the first vodka was distilled.

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There is a forest on the border between Poland and Belarus that was never cleared. The oaks stand close, the last wild bison in Europe graze the glades, and between them grows one very particular grass. That is what lies as a single blade inside this bottle.

Expert description

Grasovka Bisongras is a Polish Vodka distilled from Polish rye, flavoured with bison grass and bottled at 40%.

The grass is called Hierochloe odorata and grows in the glades of Bialowieza, the last great primeval forest of its kind in Europe. It is harvested by hand in summer while it still stands full of sap and smells at its strongest, and then dried. The vodka is passed through the dried grass several times so the aroma is drawn into the spirit.

After distillation, demineralised water and an extract of bison grass are added, and finally someone lays a single blade into each bottle by hand. The blade is not decoration alone. It is a reminder that the flavour comes from a plant rather than from a bottle of aroma.

The story of the grass is wrapped in secrecy. It is said that only 21 families know where the good bison grass stands, and that an outsider could not tell it from any other grass anyway. The bison can, and the plant carries their name for that reason.

Tasting notes

Nose

Fresh cut hay and vanilla, clear and soft. Almond and a trace of dried herbs sit behind them.

Palate

The grass lies as a mild sweetness across the light spice of the rye. There is a creamy vanilla note in the middle and almost no sharpness.

Finish

Medium and dry. The hay hangs on, and a hint of pepper from the rye turns up at the very end.

Specifications

Name: Grasovka Bisongras
Producer: Grasovka
Region/Country: Poland
Type: Polish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 50 CL
Distillation method: Distilled from Polish rye, flavoured with dried bison grass
EAN no.: 4034100221771
Serving suggestion: Ice cold with clear apple juice over ice, or neat in a small frosted glass.

Flavour profile

Bison grass · Vanilla · Fresh cut hay · Lightly spiced

Did you know?

The name Grasovka is not originally Polish. It was invented in 1976 by Emil Underberg, two years after his family firm had begun importing Polish bison grass vodka for the German market.

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In 1806 a Georgian prince sat in the Caucasus refining a recipe for grain spirit. The Eristoff family had land, titles and a wolf's head on the coat of arms, and the name travelled onwards with the recipe across two centuries. The wolf still stands on the bottle today, but the spirit is made in France.

Expert description

Eristoff is a French Vodka made from 100% grain, triple distilled and charcoal filtered, bottled at 37.5%.

The story begins in Georgia, where Prince Nikolai Eristoff put the recipe in place. Production itself now sits in France, from where the vodka is distributed across the European market, and the brand belongs to Bacardi. It is one of those vodkas that grew large without ever making a fuss about itself.

Production runs strictly by the book. The grain has to carry the right moisture content before fermentation, distillation happens in three stages with demineralised water for dilution, and the spirit finally passes through charcoal. That filtration removes the last traces of harshness and heavier alcohols, and it is what gives Eristoff the smooth feel it is known for.

The result is neutral in the literal sense. There is no prominent grain character, no sweetness and no sharp edge, which is exactly the intention. A vodka like this is not meant to take up room in a drink but to make room. Alongside the original sits a range of flavoured versions, all built on the same clean base.

Tasting notes

Nose

Nearly silent. A distant grain note and something close to wet stone, but no perfume and no sweetness.

Palate

Light and smooth with a hint of sweetness on the attack. The grain sits well back, and the alcohol feels milder than 37.5% usually does.

Finish

Short and clean with a small streak of pepper at the end. Nothing lingers, and that is the whole point.

Specifications

Name: Eristoff
Producer: Eristoff
Region/Country: France
Type: French Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Triple distilled from 100% grain, charcoal filtered
Serving suggestion: On the rocks with a wedge of lime, in a Vodka Tonic or as the base of a Moscow Mule.

Flavour profile

Neutral · Smooth · Light · Dry

Did you know?

Charcoal filtration of spirits became widespread in Russia in the 1700s, long before anyone could explain the chemistry behind it. All that was known was that charcoal made the spirit milder. The principle is the same as pouring water through a filter jug in your kitchen today.

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Out at Mellerup north of Randers Fjord sits a farm where the fields run all the way down to the water. This is where the potatoes come from, and this is where they turn into vodka. Not in an industrial plant, but in a barn that also holds casks of whisky.

Expert description

Enghaven Danish Premium Vodka is a Danish Vodka distilled from Danish potatoes at Enghaven near Randers and bottled at 40%.

The Enghaven farm became a distillery in 2007, and the idea was simple from the start: whatever can be grown on the place should be refined on the place. The vodka is a distillery bottling in the literal sense, distilled, cut and filled in the same yard, with no middleman and no bought in neutral spirit.

The potato is an awkward choice. It yields less alcohol per kilo than grain, it has to be cooked and broken down before fermentation can even begin, and it is heavier to handle. In return it leaves a mark. Potato spirit generally lands fuller and more oily in the mouth than grain spirit, and that rounded texture is exactly what you meet here.

The distillate has not been scrubbed beyond recognition. A clear trace of the raw material survives into the finish, an earthy sweetness you will not find in a hard filtered wheat vodka. The producer recommends freezing the bottle and drinking it neat, and that is difficult to argue with.

Tasting notes

Nose

Mild and almost sweet. There is something creamy about it, with a faint earthy note underneath.

Palate

Round and full with a soft, almost oily texture. The gentle sweetness of the potato fills the middle without sharp edges.

Finish

Short and clean, but with a clear greeting from the raw material. The earthy note lingers after the sweetness drops away.

Specifications

Name: Enghaven Danish Premium Vodka
Distillery: Enghaven
Region/Country: Mellerup near Randers, Denmark
Type: Danish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 50 CL
Distillation method: Distilled from Danish potatoes
Serving suggestion: Straight from the freezer and neat in a small glass, ideally with herring or smoked fish.

Flavour profile

Round · Mild · Potato soft · Earthy

Did you know?

Enghaven also makes Single Malt Whisky on the farm, released in numbered bottlings. It is still a small distillery, but the range runs from snaps and akvavit through gin and rum to whisky, and all of it comes out of the same barn.

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Some bottles stand at the front of the window. Others stand at the front of the speed rail. The litre bottle with the red shield belongs firmly to the second group. It gets lifted, poured and put back a hundred times in an evening without anyone giving it a thought. It was built to work.

Expert description

Smirnoff Red Triple Distilled Premium Vodka 100 cl is a British Vodka made from grain, triple distilled and bottled at 37.5%.

Behind the label sits recipe number 21, the one the whole house rests on. Grain neutral spirit is rectified in column, cut back with demineralised water and then sent through seven columns of activated charcoal. Filtration can take up to eight hours, and the spirit passes roughly seven tonnes of charcoal before it is brought down to bottling strength.

The process removes rather than adds, and that is the entire point. The litre format is built for many glasses rather than one, and it behaves itself in everything from a Moscow Mule to a Bloody Mary. If you are drinking it neat, keep it cold. Warmth pulls the pepper forward at the expense of the grain.

Tasting notes

Nose

Almost silent on the first pass. Stay with it and a dry chalky note appears, along with a trace of black pepper.

Palate

Light and clean. The grain shows as a thin ribbon of sweetness through the middle before the pepper takes over.

Finish

Short, dry and peppery. It lets go quickly, which is a virtue in a bottle meant for mixing.

Specifications

Name: Smirnoff Red Triple Distilled Premium Vodka 100 cl
Producer: Smirnoff
Region/Country: United Kingdom
Type: British Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 100 CL
Distillation method: Triple distilled and charcoal filtered
EAN no.: 5410316442930
Serving suggestion: A Moscow Mule with ginger beer and lime, or ice cold in a Bloody Mary.

Flavour profile

Neutral · Dry · Peppery · Built for mixing

Did you know?

In August 1952 the British drinks house Gilbey took on the right to make and sell Smirnoff in Britain. European Smirnoff has had a British address ever since, and the litre bottle on the shelf has never been anywhere near Moscow.

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Smoke in a glass usually means peat, Islay and a cask that has stood for years. This one arrives from somewhere else entirely: from English oak, from a farm in Herefordshire and from water left sitting in the smoke for five days before it ever met the spirit.

Expert description

Chase Smoked Vodka English Oak Limited Edition is an English Vodka from Chase Distillery in Herefordshire, distilled from the farm's own potatoes and bottled at 40%.

Chase Distillery was founded in 2008 by William Chase. By then he had already built the Tyrrells crisp brand out of his own potato harvest and sold it again, and he chose to stay in the field: the potatoes are grown at Rosemaund Farm, where they are also fermented and distilled. From soil to bottle, all of it happens inside the same fence.

The smoked version came about by turning the process around. Instead of smoking grain or resting the spirit in a charred cask, the water is smoked over English oak for five days and then blended with the potato vodka. The smoke comes in through the back door, carried by water, which gives it a very different structure from the peat smoke of a Single Malt Whisky.

It divides people. Some compare it to a reposado tequila or a mild mezcal because of the vegetal sweetness beneath the smoke, and there is something in that. The potatoes lay down a creamy weight for the smoke to rest on, which is why the bottle works best with a couple of ice cubes and nothing else involved.

Tasting notes

Nose

Cold ash and toasted oak first, then a light note of vanilla. Beneath it sits something earthy, close to freshly boiled potatoes.

Palate

Creamy and broader than expected. The smoke arrives midway and reads dry rather than sooty, with a mild sweetness and a green, vegetal tone in the background.

Finish

Dry and smoky, with good length for a vodka. A touch of pepper turns up at the end as the sweetness falls away.

Specifications

Name: Chase Smoked Vodka English Oak
Distillery: Chase Distillery
Region/Country: Herefordshire, England
Type: English Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Edition: Limited Edition
EAN no.: 5060183131927
Serving suggestion: Pour it over a couple of large ice cubes and drink it with nothing alongside.

Flavour profile

Smoky · Creamy · Dry · Vegetal

Did you know?

Chase took the Best Vodka award at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2010 — the same year the smoked version appeared. It is rare for a farm distillery under two years old to beat the entire established field.

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Vanilla is the kind of aroma people react to before they have thought about it. It sits in childhood baking, in the cream on a cake, in anything warm. Absolut put it into a clear bottle and left the rest as vodka.

Expert description

Absolut Vanilia is a Swedish Vodka carrying natural vanilla flavour, bottled at 38%.

The expression arrived in 2003 and rests on the same base as the rest of the house: winter wheat grown around Åhus in southern Sweden and water from a deep, protected well. Natural vanilla sits on top of that base. No sugar is added, which separates it from a number of other flavoured vodkas where the sweetness comes from syrup rather than from aroma.

The result is more robust than the name suggests. The vanilla is of the warm, creamy sort, and beneath it lie butterscotch and a stroke of dark chocolate. Because there is no sugar in the bottle it dries out towards the end instead of turning sticky — which is exactly why it works in drinks that already carry sweetness from liqueur or coffee.

Tasting notes

Nose

Warm bourbon vanilla with a breath of butterscotch. The aroma is clear without being perfumed.

Palate

Creamy vanilla fills the middle, followed by caramel and a suggestion of dark chocolate. There is enough body that it does not vanish in a mixed drink.

Finish

Drier than the opening promises. The chocolate hangs on while the sweetness pulls back.

Specifications

Name: Absolut Vanilia
Distillery: Absolut
Region/Country: Åhus, Sweden
Type: Swedish Vodka
ABV: 38%
Size: 70 CL
EAN no.: 7312040350100
Serving suggestion: In a Vanilla Espresso Martini, or over ice with a strip of orange peel.

Flavour profile

Vanilla · Butterscotch · Dark chocolate · Creamy

Did you know?

There is not a gram of added sugar in the bottle. The sweetness you experience is pure aroma — the brain reads the vanilla scent as sweetness even though there is nothing sweet to measure. It is also why the finish dries out instead of clinging.

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In a valley outside Sendai, between two rivers and a wood of broadleaf trees, stands a column still from 1963. It was bought second-hand in Scotland, shipped to Japan and has been running there ever since. Nikka uses it for whisky, for gin and for this vodka.

Expert description

Nikka Coffey Japanese Vodka is a Japanese Vodka from Nikka Whisky, distilled from corn and malted barley in a Coffey still at the Miyagikyo distillery and bottled at 40%.

A Coffey still is an old-fashioned column, named after the Irishman Aeneas Coffey who patented it in 1830. It is less efficient than a modern column, and that is the entire point. Because it does not strip the distillate all the way down, body and texture come across with it, the very things a modern column would have shaved away.

Nikka brought its Coffey still to Japan in 1963 and still runs it. The grain is a mixture of corn and malted barley, where the corn brings round sweetness and the malt lays a soft layer underneath. It is the same thinking about raw material that sits behind the house Coffey Grain Whisky, only without the cask.

Finally the vodka is filtered through white birch charcoal. White birch is soft, porous wood, and its charcoal works gently: it takes the edges without dragging the sweetness along. The result is a vodka where texture is the first thing you notice and purity arrives second.

Tasting notes

Nose

Soft and clean. Cooked corn and a touch of lemon peel, with a distant floral note behind.

Palate

Creamy and lightly sweet. Corn sweetness fills the middle, the malt lays a soft layer beneath, and there is a suggestion of white pepper at the edge.

Finish

Short and velvety. The sweetness slips quietly away and leaves a clean, almost powdered impression.

Specifications

Name: Nikka Coffey Vodka
Distillery: Nikka Whisky
Region/Country: Miyagikyo, Sendai, Japan
Type: Japanese Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Distilled from corn and malted barley in a Coffey still, filtered through white birch charcoal
EAN no.: 3700597303276
Serving suggestion: Neat and cool in a small glass, or in a Vodka Martini where the texture gets room without too much vermouth.

Flavour profile

Creamy · Lightly corn-sweet · Clean · Soft texture

Did you know?

The same Coffey still is used for the house Coffey Grain Whisky and Coffey Malt Whisky. So Coffey never refers to coffee at Nikka, even though the name makes plenty of people assume it does. It is a surname.

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A race across the Atlantic rewards patience as much as speed. Beluga Transatlantic Racing is drawn for that world. Navy-blue glass, a golden anchor, and inside it a vodka that was left completely still for 45 days before it ever reached a bottle.

The expert's description

Beluga Transatlantic Racing Premium Russian Vodka is a Russian Vodka made from malt spirit at the Mariinsk Distillery in Siberia, filtered through natural cotton and quartz sand and bottled at 40%.

Mariinsk lies in the Kemerovo region deep inside Siberia, where the winters run long and the water is drawn from artesian wells far below the frost line. Spirits have been distilled on the site since 1900, but the Beluga name only arrived in 2002. The water accounts for much of the house style: soft and mineral, and in no need of harsh treatment before it can be used.

The base is malt spirit rather than the neutral grain spirit most vodkas are built on. Malt yields a distillate with more body and a distinct cereal sweetness that is hard to reach by any other route. Filtration then happens in two stages, first through natural cotton, which catches the heaviest compounds, and afterwards through quartz sand, which polishes what is left without carrying the character away with it.

Finally the vodka rests for 45 days. That is a long time to leave a spirit standing, and it is not cask maturation but a stretch in which the components are given room to settle. The bottling is the house's tribute to ocean racing, and the bottle says so: navy-blue glass with marine motifs and a golden anchor at the neck.

Tasting notes

Nose

Pale grain and a trace of vanilla, with something cool and mineral underneath. A light berry note sits at the edge, close to strawberry, and the alcohol takes up remarkably little room.

Palate

Soft and creamy from the first sip. Oat and mild cereal sweetness settle across the tongue like a film, then fresh citrus and a suggestion of liquorice arrive, and underneath it all sits something dry and graphite-like alongside almond.

Finish

Medium and clean. The citrus holds on, white pepper gives one small jab at the end, and the creaminess stays around longer than expected.

Specifications

Name: Beluga Transatlantic Racing Premium Russian Vodka 70 cl 40%
Distillery: Mariinsk Distillery
Region/Country: Kemerovo, Siberia, Russia
Type: Russian Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Malt spirit filtered through natural cotton and quartz sand, then rested for 45 days
Edition: Transatlantic Racing
Serving suggestion: Ice cold and neat in a frozen glass with smoked fish, or stirred into a Vodka Martini with lemon zest

Flavour profile

Soft · Creamy · Cereal · Citrus · Mineral

Did you know?

The Mariinsk Distillery is far older than the brand that made the place famous. Spirits have been produced at the plant since 1900, while the Beluga name first appeared in 2002. The distillery had therefore been running for over a century before it gained the name people know it by today.

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A miniature is not a small disappointment. It is one serving, filled, labelled and sealed exactly like its bigger sibling, and it lets you form your own opinion without committing to a whole bottle.

Expert description

Beluga Noble is a Russian Vodka made from malt spirit at the Mariinsk Distillery in Siberia, bottled at 40% in a 5 cl miniature.

What is inside is identical to the full bottle. The malt spirit is blended with artesian water from deep Siberian wells, filtered through birch charcoal and given small amounts of honey, oat extract and milk thistle before the whole blend is left to rest for 30 days. Only then does it get bottled — in this format too.

5 cl amounts to roughly one proper serving, which suits the things a large bottle cannot do: a tasting with several brands lined up side by side, a single evening with nothing left over, or a place in luggage where space is short.

Because the vodka is soft and sweet rather than dry and sharp, it also works as a welcome glass before a dinner that turns salty later. The label and the little fish emblem are the same as on the 70 cl bottle, simply scaled down.

Tasting notes

Nose

Honey and pale grain, with a soft touch of vanilla and a cool mineral undercurrent.

Palate

Full and smooth. The malt fills the middle with mild sweetness, the oat turns the texture creamy, and then a dry herbal note reports in.

Finish

Clean and soft. It falls away calmly and leaves a faintly bitter herbal tail.

Specifications

Name: Beluga Noble
Distillery: Mariinsk Distillery
Region/Country: Mariinsk, Siberia, Russia
Type: Russian Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 5 CL
Distillation method: Column distilled malt spirit, filtered through birch charcoal
EAN no.: 4603928003373
Serving suggestion: Put the bottle in the freezer for an hour and pour it into one small glass, ideally with something salty.

Flavour profile

Soft · Honeyed · Creamy · Clean

Did you know?

Mariinsk sits some four thousand kilometres east of Moscow, right on the Trans-Siberian railway. The town is small enough to be missed on a map, yet it has had a working spirits plant since the beginning of the twentieth century.

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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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A bottle shaped like a gold ingot, stamped 999.9 and filled with coconut. Subtle it is not. Behind the gold sits a wheat spirit from Schiedam, the old Dutch distilling town where grain has been run through stills since the 1600s.

Expert description

3 Kilos Vodka Coco Gold is a coconut spirit drink built on Dutch Vodka from Schiedam and bottled at 30%.

The base is the house 3 Kilos Vodka Gold 999.9, made from selected European wheat. The grain travels to Schiedam in South Holland, where it is fermented and distilled five times, and the spirit is then cut with water purified by reverse osmosis. Only after that does the coconut enter the picture.

Then there is the 30%. The European Union demands a minimum of 37.5% before anything may be called vodka, so Coco Gold is not a vodka in the legal sense but a spirit drink made from vodka. That is not an empty technicality. The lower strength makes it softer and rounder in the mouth, and it is built to be mixed rather than knocked back.

The coconut is obvious but never suntan lotion. It leans towards fresh coconut flesh rather than confectionery, and the wheat base still sits underneath, keeping the whole thing from turning sticky.

Tasting notes

Nose

Fresh coconut flesh first, then vanilla and a light floral note. The alcohol almost hides itself.

Palate

Velvety and soft. Coconut fills the middle with a creamy sweetness, and a mild wheat character sits below it.

Finish

Short and sweet. The coconut hangs around for a moment before everything dries out calmly.

Specifications

Name: 3 Kilos Vodka Coco Gold
Producer: 3 Kilos Vodka
Region/Country: Schiedam, Holland
Type: Coconut Spirit Drink based on Dutch Vodka
ABV: 30%
Size: 75 CL
Distillation method: Five times distilled wheat spirit, cut with water purified by reverse osmosis
Serving suggestion: Ice cold in a Pina Colada, or with pineapple juice and a squeeze of lime over plenty of ice.

Flavour profile

Coconut · Creamy sweet · Soft · Tropical

Did you know?

Schiedam has the tallest windmills in the world. They were built absurdly high because the town distilleries stood so close together that the sails had to clear the rooftops to catch enough wind to grind the malt.

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A red band, gold script and a drawing of a hotel by Red Square. The label has barely moved since the 1950s, and it has become one of the most recognisable pieces of graphic design in the whole drinks trade. The bottle behind it is filled in Riga today.

Expert description

Stolichnaya The Original is a Latvian Vodka made from wheat and rye, bottled at 38%.

The recipe comes out of the Soviet era. The trademark was registered in 1938, and in 1953 the vodka was shown at the international trade fair in Bern, where it took a gold medal. After the Soviet Union broke up, the rights ended in a dispute between the Russian state and SPI Group, and the result is that two Stolichnaya bottles exist in the world: one for the Russian market and one for the rest of us.

The one you find here comes from Latvijas Balzams in Riga, where SPI Group placed its production. Wheat and rye run through columns, the spirit is blended with Latvian artesian water and filtered first through quartz sand, then through birch charcoal and finally through woven cloth. Since 2022 the raw spirit has been sourced outside Russia.

The rye is what sets it apart from the many pure wheat vodkas. It gives a bready, lightly peppery character that keeps the bottle from being wholly neutral, and it is the reason the vodka still turns up in everything from a Bloody Mary to a shot alongside pickled herring.

Tasting notes

Nose

Fresh rye crust and a hint of aniseed. A light sweetness sits underneath and only steps forward once the glass has rested.

Palate

Dry and direct. The grain fills the middle with something floury before a clear stripe of pepper rises and takes over.

Finish

Medium and warm. The pepper stays at the back of the mouth, and a touch of lemon peel turns up right at the end.

Specifications

Name: Stolichnaya The Original
Producer: Stoli Group
Region/Country: Riga, Latvia
Type: Latvian Vodka
ABV: 38%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Column distilled and filtered through quartz sand, birch charcoal and woven cloth
EAN no.: 4750021000126
Serving suggestion: Ice cold in a small glass with herring and rye bread, or as the base of a Bloody Mary where the rye can carry the spice.

Flavour profile

Dry · Bready · Peppery · Direct

Did you know?

In 1972 PepsiCo struck a barter deal with the Soviet state: the right to sell Pepsi inside the Soviet Union in exchange for the right to sell Stolichnaya in the West. Roubles could not be freely converted, so vodka became the currency.

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In the mid nineties a former geologist stood on the edge of Austin building his own distillery out of second hand equipment and welded pipe. He had no experience with spirits, but he had been making infused vodka for friends and reckoned it could turn into something. It became the first legal distillery in Texas.

Expert description

Tito's Handmade Vodka is an American Vodka distilled from corn in pot stills six times over and bottled at 40%.

The unusual part is the still type. Almost all vodka in the world is made in continuous column plants, because that is the fast and inexpensive way to clean up a spirit. Tito's runs pot stills instead, the same shape you know from Single Malt Whisky and cognac, and every batch is distilled six times. It takes longer and uses more grain, but it allows tasting along the way and cutting the distillate exactly where you want it.

The raw material is corn, and that is what gives the soft, almost creamy character. The vodka is finally filtered through activated charcoal, which strips the last of the sharpness. Because no wheat, rye or barley is involved, Tito's is certified gluten free, and that is one explanation for how big it became in the United States.

The bottle looks the way it does on purpose. Ordinary glass, paper label, no crystal and no artist collaboration. The company is still called Fifth Generation and still sits in Austin, and the money goes into the contents rather than the packaging.

Tasting notes

Nose

Mild and lightly sweet with a trace of corn and vanilla. There is almost no alcoholic sharpness to smell.

Palate

Soft and rounded with a creamy texture. The corn gives a light sweetness, and a fine peppery edge arrives right at the back of the mouth.

Finish

Clean and short. The sweetness drops away immediately and no heat lingers.

Specifications

Name: Tito's Handmade Vodka
Distillery: Tito's Handmade Vodka
Region/Country: Austin, Texas, USA
Type: American Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Pot distilled six times from corn, filtered through activated charcoal
EAN no.: 619947000112
Serving suggestion: In a Vodka Soda with lime, or in a Bloody Mary where the softness carries the spice.

Flavour profile

Soft · Creamy · Lightly sweet · Clean

Did you know?

The man behind it is called Bert Beveridge, and that is his real surname. He picked up the nickname Tito as a child. Not many people in the drinks trade are born with a better head start.

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Some bottles are worth keeping after the last glass. Ultimat arrives in a cobalt blue crystal decanter with thick walls and a single small air bubble suspended in the middle of the glass. The bubble is not a flaw. It is placed there deliberately, and every decanter is inspected before it is filled.

Expert description

Ultimat is a Polish Vodka distilled from wheat, rye and potato alike, bottled at 40%.

The combination is the unusual part. Polish vodka is almost always made either from grain or from potato, because the two raw materials behave differently through fermentation and distillation and each needs its own handling. Ultimat does both and blends afterwards, with every ingredient playing a role: wheat for softness, rye for spice and clarity, potato for body and weight.

It shows up most clearly in the mouthfeel. Pure grain vodkas are often light and direct, while potato vodka is thicker and fuller, almost oily. This one sits between the two, a fat, dense texture with a dry, peppery edge from the rye laid over the top. It fills the mouth more than the alcohol percentage alone would suggest.

The decanter is meant to match the contents. The thick cobalt blue crystal is heavy to lift, the stopper sits firmly, and the shape looks closer to a perfume flacon than a spirits bottle. If you are giving vodka to someone who would never buy it themselves, this one is hard to argue with.

Tasting notes

Nose

Discreet and clean with a trace of wheat bread. Behind it sits an earthy tone from the potato, clearest when the vodka is not fully chilled.

Palate

Fat and dense in the mouth with a soft sweetness on the attack. The rye arrives halfway with dryness and white pepper, and the potato supplies the weight underneath it all.

Finish

Long for a vodka, dry and lightly peppered. No sharpness at the end, just a receding warmth.

Specifications

Name: Ultimat
Producer: Ultimat Vodka
Region/Country: Poland
Type: Polish Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Distilled from wheat, rye and potato
Serving suggestion: Cool and neat in a small glass, or in a Vodka Martini where the texture gets room to spread.

Flavour profile

Full bodied · Peppery · Soft · Dry

Did you know?

The term Polska Wodka is protected in the EU in much the same way as Champagne. To use it, both the grain and the potato must be grown in Poland and the entire production has to take place in the country. It is one of the few corners of the vodka world where origin is actually written into law.

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Blood oranges grow in only a few places on earth, and the best of them are the slopes around Etna in Sicily. Volcanic soil, cold nights and burning days give the fruit its dark red colour and the bittersweet edge an ordinary orange never develops. That edge is what this bottle is built around.

Expert description

Whitley Neill Blood Orange is an English Vodka flavoured with extract of Sicilian blood oranges and bottled at 43%.

Whitley Neill is an English house with a family distilling history reaching back to 1762, and the current distiller Johnny Neill is the eighth generation. The brand grew large on gin, travelling the world for botanicals, and the same approach sits behind the vodkas: find a raw material with character in one particular place and build the bottle around it.

The base is a clean grain vodka, and blood orange extract sits on top of it. The interesting part is the strength. Where most flavoured vodkas drop to 37.5% or lower once sugar and flavouring are in, this one holds 43%. That means the citrus does not drown in sweetness, and the bottle genuinely works as a cocktail base rather than only as a shot.

In the glass it comes straight at you. There is orange peel, juice and a trace of the bitter pith you know from a fresh blood orange, and beneath it the vodka itself lies as a clean, dry floor. It is not subtle, but it was never built to be.

Tasting notes

Nose

Fresh blood orange and grated orange zest, clear and direct. Behind it sits a faint spiced note, close to cloves.

Palate

Juicy and tart with orange peel and a light bitterness from the white pith. The grain base keeps it dry, and the 43% delivers a warm push halfway through.

Finish

Medium with peel and bitter orange. The sweetness drops away quickly, leaving a dry citrus edge.

Specifications

Name: Whitley Neill Blood Orange
Producer: Whitley Neill
Region/Country: England
Type: English Vodka
ABV: 43%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Grain vodka flavoured with blood orange extract
EAN no.: 5011166054788
Serving suggestion: With tonic and a slice of orange, or in a Blood Orange Mule with ginger beer and lime.

Flavour profile

Blood orange · Tart · Bittersweet · Dry

Did you know?

43% is unusually high for a flavoured vodka. The great majority sit at 37.5%, because added sugar and flavouring dilute the alcohol and because lower strength costs less in duty. Whitley Neill has kept the strength up, and that is why the citrus stands so sharply in a drink over ice.

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Out in the Białowieża forest on the border between Poland and Belarus, the last wild bison in Europe graze in woodland that has never been felled. Beneath them grows a sweetly scented grass that Poles have been steeping in spirit for centuries. One blade of it sits in every single bottle.

Expert description

Zubrowka Bison Grass is a Polish Vodka made from rye, flavoured with a tincture of bison grass and bottled at 37.5%.

The grass is called Hierochloe odorata and smells of freshly cut hay, vanilla and a hint of almond. That aroma comes from coumarin, the same compound that makes tonka beans and woodruff recognisable, and it is why Zubrowka tastes of something no other vodka tastes of. The faint green colour comes from the grass alone.

The method is simple and old. The rye vodka has a tincture of dried bison grass added, harvested in and around the Białowieża forest, and finally a single blade is dropped into each bottle. The blade is not merely decoration. It signals that this is the original recipe rather than an industrial imitation built on added flavouring.

Poles nearly always drink it with cloudy apple juice. The mix is called Szarlotka after the Polish word for apple pie, and the name is accurate: the vanilla of the grass meets the acidity of the apple, and the result tastes strikingly like baked apple with cinnamon. It is one of the few vodka drinks where the spirit is genuinely meant to be noticed.

Tasting notes

Nose

Freshly cut hay and vanilla on top, with thyme and a floral streak of lavender behind. Nothing sharp anywhere in the aroma.

Palate

Silky and round with a clear herbal character. Lavender and jasmine tea lead, and a fine citrus edge sits underneath it all.

Finish

Medium and lightly sweet. The hay returns at the end, and there is no burning alcohol edge.

Specifications

Name: Zubrowka Bison Grass
Producer: Zubrowka
Region/Country: Poland
Type: Polish Vodka
ABV: 37.5%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Rye vodka flavoured with a tincture of bison grass
EAN no.: 5900343005296
Serving suggestion: Ice cold with fresh cloudy apple juice, one part vodka to three parts juice. The mix is called Szarlotka.

Flavour profile

Herbal · Floral · Silky · Lightly sweet

Did you know?

The coumarin in bison grass was for decades the reason Zubrowka could not be sold in the United States. American authorities banned the compound as a food additive in 1954, and only in 2011 did a special version reach the American market with the coumarin removed. That bottle does not taste quite like this one.

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Berlin keeps wild gardens between its apartment blocks. The elder bush by the railway line, the cornflower in a neglected courtyard, the wild rose climbing a firewall. Berliner Brandstifter collects exactly those flowers and puts them into a vodka.

Expert description

Berliner Brandstifter 2016 Vodka is a German Vodka from Berliner Brandstifter, distilled from French sugar beet, refined with Berlin flowers and bottled at 43.3%.

The house was founded in 2009 by Vincent Honrodt, whose great-grandfather ran a spirits business in Berlin in the early twentieth century. The name translates as arsonist, and it is meant as a joke: in old Berlin slang, an arsonist was also somebody who burned spirit.

The base is a distillate of selected French sugar beet, five times distilled and seven times filtered. That gives a rare mildness despite the 43.3%, and it leaves a faintly earthy sweetness that grain vodka simply does not have. On top come the flowers: wild rose, elderberry, blackcurrant, violet root and cornflower, all grown and hand-harvested at the Speisegut farm in Berlin.

The flowers macerate for several weeks and are then distilled individually before the distillates are blended into the base. Each batch rests for some weeks in a 700-litre tank so the aromas can settle, and is then bottled in runs of 999. Label and number go on by hand in Berlin.

Tasting notes

Nose

Floral and fresh. Elderflower arrives first, then blackcurrant leaf and a fine powdered touch of violet root.

Palate

Mild despite the strength. A faintly earthy sweetness from the sugar beet carries blackcurrant and rose petal, with a peppery glint at the end.

Finish

Medium and drying. The flowers withdraw slowly and leave a clean, lightly mineral impression.

Specifications

Name: Berliner Brandstifter Vodka
Producer: Berliner Brandstifter
Region/Country: Berlin, Germany
Type: German Vodka
ABV: 43.3%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Five times distilled from French sugar beet, seven times filtered, refined with Berlin flowers
Edition: 2016
EAN no.: 4260393531000
Serving suggestion: Neat and cool in a small glass, or as a vodka soda over ice where the flowers get some air.

Flavour profile

Floral · Mild · Blackcurrant · Lightly earthy sweetness

Did you know?

The bottle has won as much for how it looks as for what is in it. It took gold at both the German Design Award and the European Product Design Award in 2017, the same year the vodka itself collected a DLG Golden Award for product quality.

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Borgarnes sits on a fjord halfway up the west coast of Iceland, lava fields on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The air is so clean it is hard to describe to anyone who has not stood in it. The distillery here runs on steam from the volcanoes underground and filters its vodka through the stone those same volcanoes spat out.

Expert description

Reyka Small Batch is an Icelandic Vodka from Reyka in Borgarnes, distilled from grain and spring water running through a 4,000 year old lava field, bottled at 40%.

The interesting part of Reyka is the still. The distillery works with a Carter-Head still, a type only a handful of which survive anywhere in the world, and it is packed with copper. The copper strips out sulphur and the heaviest alcohols on the way through, which is why Reyka can get away with a single distillation where others run the spirit through a column five or six times. Character is kept rather than polished off.

The water comes from a spring running through a lava field around 4,000 years old, containing almost no minerals. After distillation the spirit is filtered through lava rock, which is porous in a different way from activated charcoal and leaves the vodka crisp rather than softly rounded. Batches are small, and each distillation takes about five hours.

The result is not a neutral vodka. There is clear citrus on the nose, a spiced edge mid palate, and the alcohol shows up as a warmth that burns a little. Some would call that imperfect, others would call it character. Reyka belongs in the second camp, and that is why it holds its ground in drinks where a wholly characterless vodka simply vanishes.

Tasting notes

Nose

Plenty of citrus, mostly lemon peel with a trace of grapefruit. Beneath that sits a clean, cool minerality with no sweetness.

Palate

Classic grain vodka with a clear citrus streak and a spiced edge of white pepper. The alcohol burns a little and gives a drink something to stand on.

Finish

Spiced and dry, medium length. The citrus holds longest while the pepper slowly withdraws.

Specifications

Name: Reyka Small Batch
Distillery: Reyka
Region/Country: Borgarnes, Iceland
Type: Icelandic Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Single distillation in a Carter-Head still, filtered through lava rock
Serving suggestion: Ice cold and neat in a small glass, or in a Moscow Mule where the citrus meets the ginger.

Flavour profile

Citrus · Spiced · Mineral · Crisp

Did you know?

Reyka's master distiller is called Þórður Sigurðsson, and he also looks after the village fire engine and police car. In a coastal town of a couple of thousand people there is no room for only doing one thing.

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