Vodka has become the most successful spirit in the last few years because it's the most versatile, mixing more readily with a wider range of ingredients than any other spirit. Vodka offers more cocktails, and inspires more new cocktails, than any other spirit, and it is cocktails that drive vodka's popularity.
A superpremium variant of Moskovskaya, still produced in the original Cristall distillery in Moscow. This rich smooth vodka is the genuine article and extremely good value.
A black vodka distilled from molasses and coloured with a tannin-rich Southern Asian herb called catechu which does not affect the flavour, but is claimed to make the taste smoother.
The newest edition to the ever-growing Absolut range. This particular bottle has been designed by Jamie Hewlett (co-creator of "Tank Girl" and the band "Gorillaz").
Terrific authentic Russian vodka made with a mix of wheat and rye, and filtered through charcoal made from the stones of peaches and apricots. A great all-rounder, good from the freezer or in cocktails.
This premium variant of Smirnoff is pot-distilled and filtered through seven tons of charcoal in a painstaking production process designed to produce a vodka of rare purity.
Quadruple-distilled at 42 degrees below the equator in New Zealand - where the air is the purest on Earth - using non GM wheat and some of the world's cleanest water: hardly surprising it tastes so good...
Made with Shetland water and filtered through ice (the only distillery to do this) after triple-distillation to produce an extremely impressive purity and smoothness. Designed to be drunk very cold.
Having originally benefited from a major marketing spend, Russian Standard Platinum has gone from strength to strength. Pop it in the freezer for a delicious frozen shot.
A replacement for the now-departed Stolichnaya Cristall, this double-distilled Stoli is fantastically smooth yet delightfully characterful and complex.
A meticulously-crafted vodka from a Dutch distillery that has remained a family business for ten generations since 1691. Introduced in the UK in 1999 after massive US success.
A heavyweight Stoli- at a whopping 50% it's not for the fainthearted. For a vodka of this power it's unbelievably smooth, especially when served ice-cold.
A special edition from Absolut, named for the fact that every bottle in the range is 'unique' - each has a numbered label and the same bottle shape, but other than that they are painted with different colours and shapes making each one different.
Please note that due to the nature of the bottle yours will not look like the one in the picture.
South African Mainstay is a cane vodka (not a rum), is distilled from molasses and won the overall Vodka Trophy at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London as recently as 2007.