Belvedere 10 Vodka

Belvedere 10 celebrates the brand's beginnings, taking the 1910 production process behind the founding of the Polmos Żyrardów distillery and reworking it for modern tastes. At its centre is organic diamond rye, drawn from a single field on one estate in north-east Poland, a level of sourcing that explains its rarity. Rye is the defining grain here, lending the spirit a structured, faintly spicy character. The vodka is distilled four times for texture and depth, then rested for ten months so the flavours settle and the mouthfeel turns velvety. It is made in small annual batches and bottled at 40%.

The nose is harmonious and cereal-led with real depth. The palate is balanced and velvety with a clear rye character, and the finish is long. A vodka this considered, with rested rye at its core, is best met head-on, so serve it neat and lightly chilled in a small glass, not straight from the freezer: a touch above freezing lets the rye and the ten-month rest open up, where deep cold would mute them.