He was joined by Evan Prousaefs, bar manager at The Leaf and Cane in London and Julia Nourney, independent spirits consultant. The second set of tasters comprised chair Bryan Rodriguez, wine and spirits buyer for Harvey Nichols. David T Smith, founder of the Craft Distilling Expo, chaired the first panel, which included: Sarah Miller, founder of the Gin A Ding Ding blog and Bernadette Pamplin, founder of the Under the Ginfluence blog. Due to the sheer volume of entrants, the tasting involved three panels. This year’s entrants were carefully packed by Sensible to guarantee a true blind‐tasting experience for the judges. A panel of expert tasters assembled at the Ibis hotel in London Bridge, UK, eager to see what vodka has to offer. The Vodka Masters annual tasting is an opportunity to sample the variety of bottlings that make vodka so popular all over the world. Multiple brands, particularly those from Eastern European countries, were able to sustain or substantially grow volumes last year in the face of never‐before‐seen adversity brought about by the pandemic. According to The Brand Champions 2021 report, the category’s million‐case‐selling brands were among the most resilient of all spirits sectors. Vodka proved to be made of hardy stuff in the face of the Covid‐19 pandemic.

Our tasting uncovered the best neutral – and not-so-neutral – spirits The vodka category is blossoming at the moment, with producers around the world using skill and care to make the most of their native ingredients, as Melita Kiely explains.

Xplorer vodka