Words by Calum Ecroyd
Vodka, a spirit born in Russia but now adored across the world with new distilleries popping up every week, its price and quality can both vary massively, so it’s handy to keep on top of the latest and greatest drinks. What better time to do that than after the Vodka Masters Awards 2022, we ask?! Well, luckily, you can chill because we’ve done the hard work for you. Here is our round-up of the world’s greatest vodka!
Budget <£20
Count Pushkin
Count Pushkin has been making waves in South Africa for a while now, and it’s finally been awarded praise on the International stage too, picking up a Gold at the 2022 Vodka Masters. It was first bottled in 1965 but has been tweaked ever since and seems to have reached its pinnacle! The only downside is that it doesn’t appear to be available outside of South Africa just yet. After this award win though, watch this space!
Size: 750ml
ABV: 43% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: 145 rand (approximately £8)
Absolut
A stalwart of the supermarket shelves, Absolut Blue’s design inspired by an 18th century medicine bottle still catches the eye, and now it’s what’s inside that’s being praised too. Rewarded for its ‘texture and minerality’, it achieved a Gold prize at the Vodka Masters. It’s great value and ideal for a no-nonsense cocktail base, or even neat with ice and lime. Cheers!
Size: UK 700ml // US 1.75L
ABV: 40%
Award: Gold
Find here: UK £18.90 // US $27.99
Tamova Quadruple Distilled
This is a stunning coup for Aldi Australia whose Tamova Vodka came out on top of 139 competitors, earning a prestigious Masters Award. Part of the everyday range but with a quality you definitely don’t find every day, this velvet smooth spirit is simply perfect in your Cosmos or Bloody Marys. Right now, the four times distilled version is only on shelves down under, so we have a short wait to try it. In the meantime, the triple distilled Tamova is also well worth a try.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 37.5% ABV
Award: Master
Find here: $30.99 AUD (£18)
Mid-tier £21-£30
Black Cow
This is a rather unusual vodka that has been on everyone’s lips in more ways than one. It’s created on a West Dorset dairy farm and claims to be the world’s first pure milk vodka. The whey left over from the farm’s cheddar (also top notch by the way) isn’t wasted, and instead goes into Black Cow. Unsurprisingly this creates a subtle creamy note and as a result, it is amazing at the heart of an Espresso Martini, but it is flavoursome enough to enjoy neat too.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Master
Find here: £24.83
Stalinskaya Gold
Sharing the top award with Black Cow is Romania’s finest, Stalinskaya Gold. Using pure water from 170 metres below ground, this mineral rich and finely filtered vodka has a surprisingly creamy finish and will no doubt be available elsewhere very soon. We can’t wait to try it!
Size: 70cl
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Master
Find here: 85 lei (£16 but expected to increase in UK/US)
Koskenkorva Original
Despite the string of awards over recent years, Koskenkorva is still produced in the tiny Finnish village of the same name. Made using continuous distillation, the end result is an incredibly pure and smooth vodka that you’ll be dying to Finnish ;)
Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: UK £21.22 // US $22.89
Kingdom Recommends
Like the beautiful elephant on the bottle, you won’t ever forget your first sip of this vodka. Five times distilled and charcoal filtered for a stronger flavour, only 250 bottles are produced in each small batch. The beginnings of a stunning cocktail right here. If you are a fan of gin too, make sure you check out Kingdom’s range of gins… trust us, you won’t regret it!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £28
Slingsby
Spirit of Harrogate distil their vodka, not three, not four, not five, but seven times! It’s then blended with Harrogate’s natural spring water, which has been attracting visitors since 1571 we must add! The vodka is bottled in a delightfully vintage design ready to pour over plenty of ice or into a cracking martini. Bottoms up!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £25
Amundsen Expedition 1911
Amundsen was created to honour the famous Norwegian expedition of the same name, which set out to conquer the South Pole in 1911. In keeping with the ice brick bottle design and the expedition itself, serve this crystal-clear water at 0°c in a chilled glass. Skål!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £24.95
Masons Classic
With a background in gin, Masons have taken to this new challenge like a duck to vodka (that doesn’t really work but go with it). It’s a fantastic all rounder that carries all the traits of a top notch vodka – fresh, smooth and crisp. Their Espresso Vodka has also attracted attention too so if you fancy an Espresso Martini that is really bursting with coffee, that might be worth a try!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £29.80
Respirited
Nothing is wasted at London-based distiller Hayman’s, who have channelled their leftover grain spirit into this sustainable award-winning vodka. It’s not just the vodka that is repurposed either because the 100% recycled glass and label, sustainable cork and 1% of sales being donated to environmental causes make this one of the most forward-thinking vodkas on the list. And don’t worry, there’s absolutely NO compromise on taste!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40.2% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £26
Top end £30+
Chapel Down Chardonnay
You might be wondering what Chardonnay is doing on a list like this?! Well, well-known winery, Chapel Down, are at home working with grapes, and they’ve taken this into their vodka production too. Distilled Chardonnay grape skins go into this ultra-smooth spirit that picked up all the plaudits at the awards this year. It’s a very smooth vodka with notes of vanilla and citrus. Try it out now to see what all the fuss is about!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Master
Find here: £30.99
58 and Co
Another gin specialist dipping their toe into the vodka industry here, with a crisp 100% British wheat spirit. That’s not where the British theme ends either, as this vodka has subtle notes of clotted cream and biscuit to it – unusual for vodka, but we like it! It’s perfect in an Espresso Martini or a White Russian!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £36
Desi Daru Original
Desi Daru is another vodka stilled seven times over, combining rich English wheat with pure Himalayan mineral water over 5,000 miles away. For lovers of fruity vodka, their Mango is well worth checking out too.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £35
Royal Mash 2020
Hailing from the island of Jersey, you might be able to guess what goes into this high-end vodka. That’s right, world-famous Jersey Royal potatoes. Unlike the other award winners, this is distilled only once, retaining the character of the key ingredients. It’s vodka royalty with Royal Mash.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £36.50
Cobalte
Cobalte is a lovely French vodka so no surprise then that there’s grape at the heart of it – Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier to be exact. Usually used in Champagne, these grapes add a fruitiness perfect for cocktails but there’s more than enough flavour here to enjoy neat. Just add plenty of ice and voila!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £38.56
Snawstorm
When you think of Speyside you probably think of whisky, right? Well, Speyside vodka is here to challenge that with the powerfully named Snawstorm. Speyside malted barley spirit (the same stuff the famous whisky comes from) is blended with spring water from the Cairngorms and ta-da, you have a ridiculously smooth, clean Scottish vodka with delicate fruity notes.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 42% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £36.50
X Muse
There’s a bit of a jump up in price with the stylish X Muse which also picked up a Gold award. Uniquely, two barley varieties are distilled completely separately before being expertly blended later on. Another gloriously sleek vodka flying the flag for the UK at the awards and living up to its higher price tag. You can read more about X Muse here.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £55
Broken Clock
Hidgate’s Broken Clock is produced at one of England’s oldest distilleries in Cheshire infused with apples and a smorgasbord (we’ve been waiting to use that word) of botanicals discovered in old Georgian recipes. This is a broken clock that’s well and truly stuck at vodka time! Try it in a Martini with an olive and you will never look back!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £34.99
Cove
The British invasion of the top-end vodkas continues as we head to Devon for this one. Like its offshore competitor Royal Mash, it’s a potato-based vodka using King Edwards grown locally. Overlooking Hope Cove and distilling with a row of copper pots, the production site looks as blissful as this tastes. It’s a straightforward creamy vodka. Nom!
Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £39.50
Griffiths Brothers Vodka
A family run distillery deep in the Chiltern Hills, GB began as two brothers challenging each other to make the best gin. Years later, they’re now making not only gin but rum and now vodka too! It’s re-distilled with samphire, lemon and most peculiarly, horseradish. ‘Jack of all trades and master of all’ it seems, as this vodka has been awarded a Gold at the 2022 Vodka Masters.
Size: 700ml
ABV: 42% ABV
Award: Gold
Find here: £31
From great value to absolute excellence, there’s something for everyone there. Now, if you’re anything like us, you’ll be itching to mix up some delicious vodka cocktails after reading that. Put these award winners to the taste test in a classic cocktail here. Or check out even more great value vodkas here!
