With its bottle design seemingly inspired by Sputnik, all chrome and curves and black and red lettering, you may be forgiven for assuming Goral Vodka hails from Russia. Not so, it’s Slovakian, where distiller Jan Krak says he has “dedicated his entire life” to mastering the creation of vodka.

Goral is farily traditional in construct: made from winter wheat, column distilled 7 times, then filtered 7 times through a variety of materials.

The nose is pure, astringent with medicinal notes, and tinged with lemon — and the slightest hint of sweetness. On the tongue, the spirit strikes hot and hard, a layer of antiseptic, then one of gentle herbs. The finish recalls some ephemeral notes of vanilla, not so much sweet as it is wintry, an aftertaste of hot chocolate residue left in a cold mug on a snowy day. Good stuff.

80 proof.

A- / $24 / goralvodka.sk

Goral Vodka

$24

9

Rating

9.0/10