UK vodka pips Poland, Russia as world’s best
A reveller gets muddy during the Isle of Wight Festival 2010 in Newport, England, on Saturday.
Russia and Poland are known for vodkas, but a British produce has now beaten the two countries and 113 other global rivals to be voted the world’s best at a spirits’ competition.
Chase Vodka, produced in Hereford, has been crowned the world’s finest by a panel of 30 judges at San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2010, the Daily Mail reported.
“Winning the award has been fantastic for us. It has really helped to build up the brand’s profile, which is vital. You can have the best product in the world, but it won’t sell if the brand isn’t strong.
“One of the unique things about our vodka is it is made from a traditional copper pot, which gives it its character. We boil it up in the copper pot and it has a column and it bubbles away in there and condenses and evaporates about 50 times. A lot of people just make the vodka then filter it whereas we do all of that in the distillation process, so there are already no impurities. To make spirits is like a fine art. It isn’t just a process,” William Chase, who started making the drink two years ago, was quoted as saying.
The 45-year-old entrepreneur had no previous distilling experience but decided to aim for the gourmet end of the market and invested nearly £3 million to build distillery. All the potatoes are grown on his Rosemaund Farm near Hereford before being added to water, fermented, and then distilled and bottled — which all takes place on site.
The spuds give Chase a “natural sweetness” which tastes better than traditional vodkas made from cheaper wheat or rye grains.
“You can get a bit more of a yield out of wheat but with the potatoes it has a natural sweetness to the product and the consistency of a fine wine,” Chase said.
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