Is filtration good or bad for vodka?

Debate is heating up about the role of the filtration stage – or the lack of one – in producing flavoursome vodka, with many asking the question – is this good or bad for the industry?

There are numerous different opinions in the spirits industry about the filtration stage in vodka creation

William Borrell has a name for the mass-market vodkas which, in his words, produce a homogenised liquid which tastes the same, year in, year out: the “horsemeat” of the spirits industry. It’s a strong description, but one which reflects the ethos behind the creation of Vestal Vodka, the business he founded with his father. Filtration, for him, is a key part of that horsemeat production line.

“Before I entered the cluttered vodka market, I could see that the current formula of flashy bottle with little or no thought for the liquid inside didn’t make sense to me,” he recalls. “My vision was for an unfiltered vodka that concentrated on the quality of the ingredients – virgin potatoes – that I wanted to shine through.”

For Vestal, not filtering reinforces its USP: a vodka that doesn’t taste the same every time, because each potato “vintage”, variety and origin is subtly different (some of the flavours mentioned by Borrell range from apple through capsicum to peaty and peppery notes).

Unfiltered status

But Vestal isn’t alone. Sweden’s Purity Vodka also makes play of its unfiltered status, focusing on a production process that uses organic grain, a proprietary copper still and no fewer than 34 distillations. The implication is that filtration is a corrective process designed to cure faults in the spirit – but you don’t need it if you get the distillation right in the first place.

Not necessarily, responds Gemma Adams, global brand manager for William Grant-owned Reyka. This Icelandic vodka alludes to its origins right through the production process: arctic spring water, geo-thermal energy powered by volcanic activity, clean Icelandic air and – for filtration – 4,000-year-old basalt lava rock.

The lava rock is loaded into the botanicals basket of Reyka’s Carter-Head still and filters the spirit vapour as it passes through the column; as the spirit condenses and runs off the still, it undergoes a final filtration, passing through yet another layer, or “lava basket”.

“The lava rock provides an additional surface for condensation and for an inventive style of spirit rectification,” claims Adams. “The basalt lava rock is more porous and allows the spirit to extract minerals from the rock to add some complexity to the smooth taste.” So rather than just taking away unwanted impurities, Reyka’s filtration is – Adams says – actually adding layers of flavour to the vodka.

 

Charcole is one of the materials used to filter vodka

Sacrificing character?

But not everyone believes that filtration means sacrificing character anyway. Alexi Lambrou, global brand manager at SPI Group, says Stolichnaya uses three distillations and four filtrations to keep its “bold” character – not mask it. “It is a western convention that vodka should be odourless and tasteless,” he says. “We filter four times to retain the flavour and character of Stolichnaya, and capture the very essence of where it comes from and the great care and attention that has gone into making it.”

By contrast, deciding not to filter could be perilous if your spirit isn’t up to standard, Lambrou says. “The final product may indeed deliver a full flavour, but perhaps runs the risk of being harsher on the palate, depending on the quality of the alcohol used,” he argues. “As the vodka process is fairly simple when compared to other spirits, it is the quality of the ingredients that plays the biggest part.”

Filtration materials

So is filtration good or bad? Perhaps it depends on what you’re filtering. Witness Belvedere, which typically filters through charcoal and cellulose, but also produces a Belvedere Unfiltered variant.

Head of spirit creation and mixology Claire Smith points out that Belvedere’s Polish rye grain can be “bold and lively” on the palate – so filtration helps lend it “elegance and restraint”. But Unfiltered is made from a different rye variety, one which has a lower starch content and more gentle and subtle characteristics. To keep these intact and preserve the vodka’s texture, the filtration process is left out entirely.

“During fermentation, approximately 100 chemical substances are obtained that may influence the sensorial quality of a raw spirit,” Smith explains. “A sensitive distillation process will remove most of these unwanted fermentation by-products, however some trace elements of certain substances remain, often providing unique sensorial and organoleptic qualities to a vodka. Filtration is a finishing step, one that can either work for or against a spirit.”

William Borrell, founder of Vestal Vodka, opts for an unfiltered process

Do consumers care?

For the spirits geek, this is all fascinating detail. But does the average punter care? Not about the intricate details, perhaps, but not filtering your vodka (and then shouting about that fact in your marketing) is part of a broader strategy to make vodka appear more artisanal and characterful rather than mechanical, industrial and neutral.

“There is… an increasing consumer desire to know more about their vodka – more than where it comes from, but how it is made,” reports Adams.

“This is already apparent in a number of brands marketing in the more mature markets of the US and UK.”

“Essentially, I think that consumers and bartenders alike are finding that the vodka category has much more to offer, and is becoming more diverse and dynamic,” agrees Smith. “Stories that tap into provenance, innovative production techniques that truly drive improvements in quality, or simply a return to very traditional techniques or raw materials, are driving a renewed interest in the category.”

Marketing tactic

 

That may be, but for jaded bartenders bored with vodka’s associations with blank canvas versatility and superficial bling, suddenly talking about provenance, craft credentials and “flavour” can be somewhat counter-intuitive.

For Borrell, selling Vestal is all about winning people over, one by one, because the company doesn’t have the funds for big brand marketing initiatives. And, while he’s quick to credit bars such as Claridge’s, 69 Colebrooke Row, The Connaught, Pegu and Sherry Butt for their open-mindedness, he admits: “For most bartenders we have met, they have struggled to embrace the concept of our vintages and the different flavours you may encounter.

“For us, the uphill struggle with bartenders has been to show them firstly that not all vodka is the same – I’ve had many doors slammed in my face just for mentioning vodka – and that, at Vestal, we are trying to produce vodkas the way they would have been several hundred years ago.”