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Gin may be the spirit du jour, but vodka is hot on its heels. Today’s vodkas are made in a variety of different ways, with more flavours than ice-cream – and there’s something for every budget. If you’re not sure which to go for, here’s our roundup of the smoothest, tastiest vodkas around – so whether you want creamy or peppery, milky or potato-based, there’s something for you. And that goes for whether you want to sip it neat or mix it.
What makes a great vodka?
Vodka can be completely neutral, with some brands distilled and treated to the extent that they have no aroma, no colour and no taste – which makes them entirely forgettable. Don’t get sucked in by sexy bottles and marketing-driven names like “premium” or “super premium”; a good vodka should be smooth (no burning throat), with flavour, texture and body.
How should I drink vodka?
Some like their vodka straight up, Russian-style; others prefer it on the rocks. But it’s one of the most versatile spirits around, so why not mix things up a bit? Vodka is at the heart of many a classic cocktail, including Bloody Mary, Cosmopolitan and vodka Martini, to name a few.
How is vodka made?
Vodka can be distilled from any fermentable agricultural product, from potatoes to grapes, from quinoa to beets and from rye to onions. It all kicks off with milling the product, then cooking it with fresh, filtered water, turning the starch into sugar. The “mash” is then fermented to turn it to alcohol. Now you’ve got the “wash”’ which is distilled at least three times to refine it, after which purified water is added to reach the preferred alcohol percentage, and the vodka is filtered through a natural substance such as charcoal to remove the impurities. It’s up to the brand whether they want to add extra steps or repeat parts of the process as they see fit.
What about flavoured vodkas?
Vodka is an excellent flavour carrier, with numerous styles on offer ranging from ginger to lemon and pineapple coconut sorbet to toffee. Some of these taste highly artificial, however; look for natural flavours and don’t compromise on quality or character.
The best vodkas to buy, from £21
1. Konik’s Tail: Best sipping vodka
£34, Buy Now from Amazon
Regularly rated by vodka lovers as the best sipping vodka around, Konik’s Tail is named after the wild ponies of Poland's primeval forest. It was originally created by entrepreneur Pleurat Shabani in his kitchen, using three very different grains – spelt, rye and early winter wheat. It’s exceptionally smooth, slightly spicy and beautifully rich, with some bartenders calling it “martini in a bottle”. For best results, freeze your martini glasses (never the vodka itself, which should be stored at room temperature), then stir it over cubed ice in a mixing glass for half a minute, before pouring into your martini glasses and garnishing with a lemon twist. Perfection.
Key details – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: Poland
2. Absolut Elyx: Best Absolut vodka
£36, Buy Now from Amazon
Absolut helped to define the vodka culture of the 80s and 90s with its modern look and distinctive taste – and we reckon this is the best of the range. Hand-made on a vintage copper still column from the 1920s, with winter wheat grown on a single estate in southern Sweden, it’s full-bodied, silky smooth and mellow. It works superbly on the rocks, or makes a mean mixer for a cocktail, whether you’re adding a splash of ginger beer or mixing a full-blown Cosmopolitan. In a climate where people are making the move towards higher quality vodkas, this is a quality contender.
Key details – Alcohol content: 42.3%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: Sweden
3. Chase English Potato Vodka: Best British single-estate vodka
£32, Buy Now from Amazon
Made using top-notch, gluten-free potatoes from a family farm in Herefordshire, Chase is the only single-estate distillery in the UK. That means that the makers do absolutely everything: after the potatoes are grown, they’re mashed, fermented and distilled three times onsite through a copper still.Chase has received a fair few awards over the years for this, their signature spirit, including World’s Best Vodka at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It’s crisp, yet with a buttery richness, and is best served straight from the fridge.
Key details – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: England
4. Zubrowka: Best unusual vodka
£24, Buy Now from Amazon
Each bottle of this world-famous Polish rye vodka contains a blade of bison grass, which gives the spirit its characteristic green tinge. Distilled seven times, it’s clean and light, with subtle nutty and citrusy bursts that make it especially summery. Buy a bottle of cloudy apple juice at the same time – the two are a match made in heaven, particularly if the vodka has been stored in the freezer right up to drinking time. Don’t like apple juice? Fear not, as the Poles also drink it with cranberry juice or neat on ice.
Key details – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: Poland
5. Crystal Head: Best gift for vodka fans
£69, Buy now from Harvey Nichols
The iconic skull-shaped bottle is indisputably eye-catching, and it has great taste to back it up, with the company (which happens to be owned by Dan Aykroyd of Ghostbusters fame and US artist John Alexander) producing vodka that’s as pure and smooth as they come. Crafted from the virtually pollution-free water of Newfoundland, plus high-quality corn and peaches, it has no additives and is quadruple distilled and seven times filtered – the last three filtrations through Herkimer diamond crystals. It’s sold over a quarter of a million bottles in the UK in the last four years, and won a double gold at the influential San Francisco Spirits awards. With this limited edition gift pack, you get four gorgeous skull-shaped shot glasses thrown in too.
Key details – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: Canada
6. Ketel One: Best-value vodka
£23, Buy from 31DOVER
The family-run Dutch distillery behind this dependable vodka has ten generations of distilling expertise behind it. Initially launched in the United States in the early 1980s (and in the UK in 1999), Ketel One has a loyal following and has won multiple awards over the years. Crisp, wheat-based and made in small batches using traditional copper pot stills alongside more modern distilling techniques, it’s exceptionally refreshing, with notes of citrus, honey and orange, a hint of spice on the palate, and a rich smooth finish. In short, it tastes a lot more expensive than it is.
Key details – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: Netherlands
7. Grey Goose: Most versatile vodka
£39, Buy from the Whisky Exchange
A world away from paint-stripping supermarket spirits, this sexy French vodka is clean without being too light, and rich without being too heavy. Distilled from wheat sourced from Northern France and water from the Grande Champagne region of Cognac, it’s a great all rounder, and for that reason is found in most self-respecting bars. It keeps things nice and smooth in an espresso Martini, but equally lends itself to fizzy, refreshing cocktails. The ever-so-slightly nutty taste also makes it a sheer joy to sip neat.
Key details – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: France
8. Black Cow Vodka: Best milk vodka
£28, Buy now from Sainsbury's
Black Cow is the world’s first vodka made purely from cow’s milk – the brainchild of West Dorset dairy farmer Jason Barber. The milk comes from his 250-strong dairy herd, and with a true waste-not-want-not approach, he uses the whey to make his award-winning cheeses. The vodka doesn’t taste milky as such, but it is rounded, slightly oily and very creamy, with a wonderfully clean finish. The brand has come up with its own cocktails too – we’ve tried a few and found them all delectable.
Key details – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: England
9. Adnams Longshore: Best brewery vodka
£30, Buy now from the Whisky Exchange
Another vodka that hasn’t travelled far, this award-winner hails from Southwold, Suffolk, where Adnams brewery has been located since its establishment in 1872. The distiller makes a beer wash from East Anglian malted barley, wheat and oats, which is fermented then distilled before being put through a copper pot still and purified in rectification columns. Intense and velvety with a refreshing bite and lovely lingering finish, it’s gorgeous served over ice. If you want to turn up the heat, try Adnams’ East Coast Vodka, which is even more characterful thanks to the scrumptious pepper character.
Key details – Alcohol content: 48%; Bottle size: 700ml; Country of origin: England