Stumbras Premium Organic Vodka wins the top prize at this year’s New York World Spirits Competition.
Early this year, a group of expert judges gathered in an unassuming hotel convention hall in Brooklyn to judge the different spirits category. This was part of the annual New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, which has already become one of the city’s premier tasting events in just a few iterations.
A lot of our time has been spent on covering the top-rated whiskies from that competition. The competition included several surprises that are all worth exploring—if you’re into aged spirits. Now we’re going to explore the realm of vodka. But we need to address an important question: how do you define greatness in a category that is supposedly flavorless by design?
However, vodka isn’t exactly flavorless. It’s often confused with neutral grain spirit, but this is a gross simplification. An outdated one, to say the least. Vodka doesn’t have to be made from grain. It can be distilled from veggies, fruit, honey, starches—we’ve seen compelling examples from all kinds of base ingredients. And it does not need to be neutral in taste or smell. If you harbor any doubts, you should consider tasting the very expression that New York Wine & Spirits Competition heralded as the best of 2023: Stumbras Premium Organic Vodka.
The first organic vodka to ever emerge from Lithuania is made following stringent production guidelines. Its inception is as wheat grown on an organic farm in the heart of the Baltic state. After being distilled, the liquid is filtered through a unique linen-based system. It is believed that this process provides the vodka with its remarkable smoothness and gentle viscosity.
Whether there’s a bit of a gimmick involved can be debated. However, it is undeniable that the wheat at its heart lends a delightful sweetness to the taste. This persists into the aftertaste, leaving you to mull over the enduring subtlety of this characteristic. Indeed, flavour—in vodka.
Make no mistake, this isn’t about flavored vodka. Interestingly, Stumbras also excels in crafting one of those, specifically a cranberry version, which was also lauded by the judges in New York for its extraordinary bitter notes. Having been in this business for over 115 years, the company has finely honed its craft.
Their award-winning organic expression is easily available on American shelves, and is priced roughly at $20 per bottle. The mentioned nuances of its tasting profile make it ideal for pairing with tonic or soda, served over ice. Particularly when you’re adding lemon or lime, as the sour and bitter components of the citrus counterbalance the sweetness of the wheat in the vodka.
Or do the unthinkable: try the 80-proof spirit neat. Maybe you’ll be able to call out some of the same grassy aromatics in the liquid that won over those contest judges back in Brooklyn. Perhaps you, too, will call it one of the more interesting vodka on shelves today. But what you won’t be able to do is call it flavorless.
LITHUANIA – NOVEMBER 25: Mill, Open air ethnographic museum, Rumsiskes, Dzukija, Lithuania. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)
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