Stolichnaya Premium Vodka, 70cl

Stolichnaya Premium Vodka - known the world over simply as Stoli - is a wheat and rye spirit produced using traditional Russian-style production methods, though the brand itself is made and bottled in Latvia rather than Russia. The vodka is distilled from a base of winter wheat and rye grain, then filtered through quartz sand and Siberian birch charcoal in a triple-filtration process before a final polish through quartz once more, resulting in the clean, precise character the brand has built its reputation on since 1938.

On the nose there are light hints of sweet orange peel alongside a soft, grainy vanilla note and a cool touch of menthol. The palate is smooth and refined, carrying that same delicate grain sweetness through the mid-palate with a subtle peppery warmth, while the finish is crisp, clean and remarkably short for a 40% ABV spirit, leaving little beyond a faint mineral dryness. It is this purity that makes Stoli such a dependable base for classic cocktails, from a Moscow Mule to a simple vodka martini.

Stolichnaya's story stretches back to Soviet-era Russia, where it quickly became the country's most celebrated vodka export, but the brand relocated its production and ownership away from Russia some years ago and today operates independently of the Russian state, a distinction the company has been keen to make clear. It remains one of the best-selling premium vodkas on the planet, a fixture of back-bars and home drinks cabinets alike thanks to its consistent, no-nonsense smoothness.