Vodka for drinking neat?

[rix]

Nobody mentioned bison grass stuff?,

http://www.masterofmalt.com/vodka/zubrowka-bison-g...

It's polish so dunno if you were intending on something local for them?

[anonymous-user]

Why not gamble and offer a British alternative! maybe a good artisan vodka or gin

[Tonsko]

Zubrowka is dead nice with apple juice. I seem to remember smirnoff black being quite nice from the freezer. I mostly have Stolichnaya now at home.

[Baryonyx]

KFC said:

yup, if you don't normally drink straight vodka then starting it with 2 clients who've flown to Britain and need to be impressed just has disaster written all over it

Someone will call a potogowie.

If you're looking for good volume, good taste and value grab some Parliament.

[Dr G]

Mobile Chicane said:

Do not buy Chase. It's as rough as a badger's arse. However your Estonian guests will be far too polite to cast aspersions. Even if they're retching, such things 'aren't done.'

This is a bit of a minority opinion; having tried numerous I would never even consider calling chase rough. It's quaffable in the same a nice, warming whisky is. Give it to a 13 year old and it'll knock him for 6 in the same way that most any spirit will

Sobieski is also surprisingly good if you ever find yourself on the continent, it's cheap too. They run a marketing campaign around not needing to spend a fortune for a quality vodka. I'm fortunate enough to have several friendly Polish colleagues that drive home now and then so can pick me up the odd bottle. Buying it even from places like drink supermarket in the UK attracts the usual 'not available in the UK' tax.

[tobinen]

Some good tips here from a previous thread. I love chilled vodka.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=1&a...

[andy_s]

Mobile Chicane said:

The secret of vodka is the number of times distilled.

Tried Purity vodka? It's like cream compared to most stuff; 34 distillations, no filtering, small batch.

By far and away the smoothest I've had.

[ATV]

OP here, thanks for everyone's advice , I went with Oval 42 as it was an Austrian brand (so no regional rivalry issues) and had some good reviews over various sites.

There was 3 Estonians who turned up and they all loved it, first time they'd heard of this brand and like some other posters had mentioned, they said the key to a good vodka is the number of times it is filtered and were very impressed with this post distilled one.

[BJG1]

Chase is significantly better than a Greygoose or Belvedere IMO. Their 'naked' vodka, made from apples, is great

[alx87]

I had some Black Cow vodka (made from milk) a few months ago and it was very smooth. It made the Skyy vodka and the Belvedere/Grey Goose (can't remember which) we had at the same time seem very harsh!

Would deffo recommend it if people want to try something a bit different.