Staritsky & Levitsky Reserve Vodka

Staritsky & Levitsky is distilled in the historic city of Lviv in western Ukraine, drawing on grain grown on the region's fertile black-earth soils and on spring water from the Carpathian Mountains. The Reserve is its more considered bottling: the grain spirit is distilled five times and filtered four times, a heavy regime that strips congeners and fusel oils to leave a clean, even base. Where it differs from most vodka is the final step, a 30-day rest in stainless steel tanks before bottling, which the distillery uses to let the spirit settle and round out rather than going straight from filter to bottle.

The nose is gentle, with cereal notes and a light herbal sweetness. The palate is smooth and full-bodied, holding a balance between sweet and lightly spicy nuances, and the finish is long and soft with a clean feel. That balance of grain weight and softness suits a classic Vodka Martini served very cold and bone dry: stir 60ml with just a rinse of dry vermouth, strain into a frozen glass, and finish with a lemon twist so the citrus oil lifts the herbal edge already in the spirit.