Zlatogor Gnom Vodka

Zlatogor has been produced at the Zolotonosha distillery in Ukraine since 2000, and the brand is best known for bottles modelled on weapons and other unusual shapes, the Gnom included. Behind the packaging, the vodka is filtered through charcoal for a clean base, the charcoal removing heavier oils, and then left to rest for 24 hours so the spirit can soften and settle before bottling. At 38 percent it sits slightly below the usual 40, which makes for a marginally gentler, rounder pour while keeping the grain character intact.

The nose is mild with clear grain notes. The palate is clean and soft, again grain-led, and the finish is long. This is a straightforward, well-behaved vodka rather than a complex sipper, so it is best served the way the distillery suggests: poured neat over a couple of large ice cubes in a short glass, letting the cube chill and very gently open the spirit so the soft grain shows without dilution running away with it.