Sometimes it seems that the industry is drowning in vodka. Every week we see new brands being released, usually with some clever marketing twist, a rare crystal, hand crafted bottle that has probably had more thought thrown at it than the liquid it holds. It never fails to amaze me that the marketing bigwigs have taken a characterless, odourless, flavourless spirit and somehow got away with slapping big prices on the bottle.

A great example which I saw the other day at Taste was the £25 per bottle Red Wolf vodka, with marketing and branding that was so aggressive it was rather like being attacked by a red wolf. The owner of the brand was quite happy to give me the ’smoothest vodka in the world, better than grey goose, Smirnoff is rubbish…’ spiel, but his enthusiasm wavered when questioned about the grain he used to produce the spirit, and even where exactly the stuff is made is still a mystery to me, ‘Russia’ was all he was willing to tell me… well that narrows it down.

Check out their website and have fun spotting the spelling mistakes1 on the home page, don’t be lenient, the owner is about as Russian as a Cornish pasty.

I also met the guys from U’Luvka, a Polish vodka launched in 2005. U’Luvka has won a few awards since its launch, but to be honest, there’re so many different spirits awards these days i’d be surprised if it hadn’t bagged a few.

U’Luvka were fortunately a lot more forthcoming with details about how the vodka is distilled, the mash (50% rye, 25% barley, 25% wheat) means that there is a little less spice than other Polish vodkas and it is genuinely a nice liquid. The branding for U’Luvka is less intense, but there is still the feeling that slightly too much time has been spent on presentation, quirkiness and status, with clever Polish glasses that wont stand up and look a bit like butt plugs. In fact the whole brand is shamelessly aimed towards sex and love, with their tagline being The Spirit of Pleasure – The bottle also doubles up as a sex toy.

Do check out their website, it’s quite an experience, rather akin to going to the theatre, complete with a [not the slightest bit annoying] Polish chorus.

Disappointingly, the lady from U’Luvka had started slating other brands2 before she had even taken her second breath. I guess it’s just the way the vodka market is… or is it?

I think that for a lot of people, being told that the product is a new leap forward in vodka technology, and then being shown packaging which looks incredible, is enough to sell it. Even if the liquid is terrible you will still believe that it is good.

Which neatly beings me to the crux of this vodka fueled post. The final vodka company which I met at Taste were Chase. Set up a few years ago by William Chase, founder of Tyrells crisps, this is the only English potato vodka and was released in May of this year.

Turns out that big potatoes are good for crisps, small potatoes are good for becoming potato seeds and medium potatoes aren’t that good for anything, except vodka. Potato vodkas aren’t all that common and it’s partly because they are quite expensive to make, brands like Chopin and Luksusowa are currently popular amongst bartenders and the both do a good job. Chase appealed to me for a few reasons though.

Firstly, they grow their own potatoes. The distillery is actually on the farm in Herefordshire, so they have complete control over the product from crop to glass. It’s not really about a sustainability thing for me, I just like that they are self-contained. They even go as far as to feed the spent mash to the cattle after fermentation and they use water (de-mineralised) drawn from some hole underneath their apple orchard.

They also give a crap about potatoes. You don’t become one of the most successful gourmet crisps producers in recent times by growing rubbish potatoes, so the quality is there and it is managed right from the start of the process.

The liquid is distilled twice through a column still and once in a copper still by Master Distiller Jamie Baxter, maximum output of about 3,500 bottles per day.

I don’t want my vodka to be the smoothest, I want it to have some character and some weight in my mouth. Like Ciroc, this vodka delivers some substance, unlike Ciroc’s freshness though, I get creaminess and potato. A little bit like buttery mashed potato with a touch of marshmallow, this vodka actually gives me something to talk about. Unusually for vodka, they recommend that you drink it at room temperature, which of course helps to deliver the flavours within the liquid.

Though I didn’t take home a bottle of the vodka, the guys from Chase did kindly gave me a bottle of their rhubarb liqueur. I don’t talk about liqueurs all that much on here, but I have to say that this is a cracker. The genuine flavour of fresh rhubarb (not stewed) in a bottle and potentially an awesome cocktail ingredient. They also do an elderflower (which is a touch sweet I think) and a raspberry and blackcurrant. The latter two I would need to compare to Giffard, Briottet and Gabriel Boudier before I could really comment3.

That’s the end of the post and i’ve just realised there’s not been a single picture, oh well, here’re some potatoes for you to think about!

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