Puffing Billy Steam Vodka

• ABV: 40%
• Age: 0
• Bottling: OB
• Category: Steam Vodka
• Cost: £32.99
• Origin: The Borders distillery
• Vintage: n/a

What they say

Puffing Billy Steam Vodka is unfiltered malted barley vodka named for the  specially-commissioned Carterhead Still which plays a key role in its production. First we pot-distil from locally-grown barley, then we re-distil the spirit in Puffing Billy to turn it into vodka. Regular filtration would strip away the character and texture of the barley, so instead the spirit vapours are steamed through charcoal inside the still itself rather than filtered as a liquid.
It’s the only vodka in the world made this way, and the result is brimful of character with an incredible creamy mouthfeel.
Puffing Billy Steam Vodka – Steam Smoothed. Never Filtered

Official  tasting notes:

• The malted barley gives Puffing Billy a rich, creamy mouthfeel. Its full rounded smoothness provides an excellent balance to sharp and
  dry mixer flavours like Tonic Water or Ginger Beer. The vodka has tropical fruit, citrus, and grassy notes in the nose. These delicate elements
  can work well with berry flavours or cherry. Alongside the creamy texture, there is a subtle malt character. This can balance stronger citrus flavours or sour fruits such as grapefruit, cranberry, or gooseberry

What I say

Probably the first time I’ve had vodka for about 20 years. Other than samples in Krakov and far too many Cola-Cube Long Vodka’s in Edinburgh’s Bar Kohl (closed ~ 2014).

Sampled for the #PuffingBilly Flash Blog event

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: Gin clear (0/20)
• Nose: Sweet, estery, solventy paint thinner and fixative, pear drops
• Taste: Surprisingly palatable, sweet, foam banana sweeties, hints of malted barley and grassy hay, gentle liquorice or aniseed balls
• Finish: Sweet banana, pineapple, grapefruit

Overall

From the initial nose I thought this was going to remind me why I don’t drink white spirits except in cocktails, long drinks etc. surprisingly this is much more palatable than many New Make Spirits, so the steam / charcoal purification has worked wonders here. If you are looking for a gently fruity white spirit to mix with this is a great start.

Score n/a

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