Introduced by the team at The Borders Distillery, Puffing Billy Steam Vodka is a small batch spirit that, according to the distillers, ignores the multiple filtration gimmick adopted by most premium vodka brands and instead it puts the attention "firmly back on taste".
The firm, who also make Kerr’s Borders Gin and are the first legal Scotch Whisky distillery in the region since 1837, say the new product is available from the distillery shop and website and is priced at £32 per 700ml bottle.
Created using malted barley, the BD team state instead of using regular filtration, which would strip away the "delicious flavours" and "soft textures" of the barley, the spirit is steamed through charcoal inside Puffing Billy, the rare Carterhead still which gives the new vodka its name.
Unfiltered and bottled at 40 per cent ABV, the resulting vodka is described as being "brimful of character with an incredible creamy mouthfeel".
Rod Gillies, head of marketing at The Borders Distillery, said: “Vodka is an important segment of spirits, but it has lagged behind other drinks in recent years, making it ripe for reinvention.
“Our distillers developed a unique way to make vodka – pot-distilled malted barley spirit, re-distilled in a Carterhead, and steamed through charcoal. It’s the only vodka in the world made like this.
“The unique process makes for a genuinely fantastic vodka. I was blown away when I tasted it.”
Rod added that Puffing Billy Steam Vodka is a versatile spirit for mixology, he said: "Its full rounded smoothness provides an excellent balance to sharp and dry mixer flavours, whilst the tropical, citrus, and grassy notes in the nose work well with berry fruit flavours.
"Alongside the creamy texture, there is a subtle malt character which can balance stronger citrus or sour fruit tastes such as grapefruit."
