London-based Portobello Road Gin is launching a range of vodkas. The new line will consists of four expressions: a Potato Vodka, a Golden Madagascan Vanilla Vodka, a Calabrian Bergamot Citrus Vodka and a Toasted Coffee Bean Vodka.
“In 2020 when the world was in the early grip of the pandemic, we leapt into action to create 40,000 units of hand sanitiser for the Metropolitan Police,” explained Jake Burger, Portobello Road’s master distiller and co-founder. “Due to the exceptional circumstances that the world found itself in, we were unable to obtain English wheat spirit that we have always used as the foundation for our gins. Undeterred, we searched high and low and eventually discovered a supplier of exceptional quality English spirit distilled from potatoes.
“Truth be told, it was something of a travesty to be using such a high quality alcohol for hand sanitiser so we vowed to revisit this ingredient and use it to create something altogether more befitting of its quality – and so Portobello Road Vodka was born.”
Now known as Portobello Road Distillery, the brand also saw opportunity in the flavoured vodka category, which has increased by 48.8% in volume and 42.8% in value over the past year, according to Nielsen data.
“With few exceptions, [the] explosion of flavour and colour has largely been confined to the gin category,” said Tom Coates, Portobello Road Distillery’s brand director. “However, it was only a matter of time before a similar trend transcends to other spirits categories and vodka has already started to see the shoots of this growth.
“At Portobello Road Gin, we have always been extremely careful on ensuring all our brands are juniper forward, and we are really excited to experiment with new, natural and innovative flavours in vodka.”
Portobello Road Potato Vodka is described as creamy, rich and soft. To craft the other bottlings, the team adds natural flavors to this base spirit.
The Golden Madagascan Vanilla Vodka is flavored exclusively with Madagascan vanilla pods; the Calabrian Bergamot Citrus Vodka uses bergamot zest; and the Toasted Coffee Bean expression is made by steeping Colombian coffee beans in the spirit for 24 hours, then redistilling the liquid so that it becomes clear.
All four expressions in the new vodka range comes in at 40% ABV and are priced at £24 ($33 USD) per 700ml bottle.
For more information, head over to the distillery’s official website.
