Swedish vodka, Absolut-ely more than you expect.
Slowly but surely in the UK we are finding that people are starting to look further afield than the supermarket shelves when it comes to selecting a bottle of Vodka, Gin or Whisky.
We had some great new releases last year from the English Spirit Company, Adnams and the ever reliable Chase Distillery who showed off some fabulous new gins.
I thought that to start the year I would go against the tide and select a bottle from Sweden to review. Absolut has been firing out variants of its vodka for many a year but a small batch distilled vodka from Sweden has been overlooked by myself for quite a while. Purity is a super premium offering that sits nicely alongside more well known drinks such as Ultimat, Stolichnaya Elit and Ciroc. Out of those three I have to say that I have always favoured the Stoli Elit. Ciroc used to be quite enjoyable until recently when they appear to have changed the mix.
Purity stands out from the crowd quite nicely when it sits on the shelf as it has a distinctive bottle that, although different, isn’t too garish. It has a lovely heavyweight metal capped cork which adds to that first impression of quality. One of the first things that struck me with Purity was the amount of times it is distilled. I imagined there really is no need to distil anything more than a handful of times, but 34?! that seemed a touch excessive. Normally, you find with vodkas that are distilled too many times, the flavour is completely taken away and you are left with a truly dull neutral spirit. To say my expectations were a little underwhelming would have been an understatement.
Purity Vodka uses malted winter wheat as its base and, to ensure it doesn’t lose its taste, remains unfiltered. Only 10% of the distillation is actually used to maintain high quality. This gives a far, far better end result in my opinion than the heavy weight brands of Grey Goose and Belvedere.
Purity has a clear appearance and, when first sipped, you will notice it has a creamy almost light potato introduction to the taste. This swiftly moves on to the expected notes of grain with a hint of spice. The wheat presence lingers in the background and so never ventures far from its roots which in this case is a good thing. You also notice a pleasant, faint vanilla aroma which brings out a slightly sweet finish that is twisted with barley.
Purity makes an outstanding Vodka Martini and (if you like to have a mixer) it does mix well with a decent tonic. For those of you that are hardened traditionalists, Purity is superb on its own with a cube or two of ice, which really does bring out all of its elements.
Overall, Purity is a nice surprise for the start of 2013. I expected something pure but bland, instead I got a lovely flavoursome grain vodka that truly is a hidden gem in our range. I’ll certainly be returning to this Swedish vodka again in the future and if you haven’t tried it and enjoy sampling the higher end vodkas on offer, then Purity is definitely one not to miss.
“Aroma and flavour are the obvious and most immediately striking characteristics of vodka. ABSOLUT ELYX goes beyond that. It has a clean and fresh taste with subtle floral and fruity tones, but its most defining quality lies in the texture. Not detectable by the nose or taste buds, texture determines how the vodka feels in your mouth. ABSOLUT ELYX is elegant and incredibly soft, and leaves you with a silky feeling in your mouth. Try it on its own, and your mouth will know the difference”, says Krister Asplund, master distiller at The Absolut Company.
