Haku Japanese Craft Suntory Vodka, 70cl

Product Information

The word can also be read as “brilliant” – a tribute to the craft of mastering a clear, clean tasting, and luminous vodka. Hartshorn Distillery, in Birch’s Bay, is pedantic when it comes to its flagship product: distillers only take the best 10 per cent of each run for this small batch vodka; bottling the selected unfiltered and double-distilled alcohol in distinctive, matte-black bottles that look great in the home bar.

At the brand’s Mariinisk distillery, ingredients like holy thistle and Siberian honey are added to the basic Beluga Noble spirit to craft a finished bottle that is as close as you’ll come to digestif territory in the realm of premium vodka. Founded in Russia in 1864, this vodka (40% ABV) remains the top world's top seller for its easy-drinking mouthfeel and neutral flavor profile (it's triple distilled and filtered ten times) that lets it pair effortlessly in any cocktail. Crafted in pot stills from hakumai (Japanese-grown white rice), each bottle of Haku is filtered using Suntory’s proprietary bamboo charcoal method.

Its subtle, slightly sweet profile, and silky texture make it a fantastic base for a range of mixed drinks, or it can be a stand-alone star on its own.

The original vodka by Fair Distillery – famously, distilled using organic quinoa – was tasty enough to begin with, but the French distillery (staffed by veterans of the Cognac region) takes things to the next level – by maturing the aforementioned quinoa spirit ex-whisky barrels. Potato remains one of the classics of the style, and this Polish version (40% ABV) puts an elegant twist on it that's perfect for neat sipping. Like a sponge, the charcoal absorbs most/many impurities present in the distillate, eliminating things that might detract from the taste. This is due to the fact that Haku Vodka is made with Japanese white rice and filtered three times through bamboo charcoal. The recipe consists of top-quality Russian staple grains – the resulting spirit of which is blended with Lake Ladoga’s glacial waters.Russian Standard Vodka, crafted in Saint Petersburg, is as classic as they come: sticking close to a traditional distillation process laid down over a century ago. ABV, and while that’s still plenty strong, it should also be noted that this helps to give the expression wide applicability in the base of most cocktails. This gives Haku Vodka a richer and more nuanced flavor than vodkas that are made with column stills. From sourcing local ingredients to utilizing efficient distillation techniques, they strive for a production process that respects and honors nature. Drinks will be chilled in 30-45 minutes and will be kept cold for several hours, especially if kept in the shade.

The flavor is slightly sweet with a black pepper note that balances things out whether you're craving a cocktail that's on the sweet side or skews savory. The highly specific production process gives Imperia a number of unique dimensions in the world of vodka. In the US, it is available for purchase online through retailers such as Sake Social and Japanese Market. The curved lines on the bottle are meant to represent the streams glistening through nature in Japan as they run through the four seasons. Suntory Whisky brings people together through the passion and precision of our artisans and the forces of Japanese nature itself.

The filtration process also differs, employing bamboo charcoal filtering methods specific to Japanese craftsmanship, contributing to a remarkably clean and crisp finish. Also sign me up for newsletters so I can get special offers, recommendations, and expert advice to my inbox! With the clean finish and smooth mouthfeel of a premium-grade European vodka, there’s a lot of value in adding Tilde to your spirit cabinet. Interred in the freezer for a couple of hours, this Coffey Vodka is also a game-changing addition to your mixological repertoire.