Portobello Road Distillery - British Asparagus Vodka

Herbaceous, vegetal, earthy, slightly nutty, enticing, beguiling and intriguing... just some of the words that our team have used to describe our newest expression - a world's first that went from to bottle in under a week.

Asparagus has become something of a talisman since we opened the doors to The Ginstitute back in 2011, being the key flavour in our first limited edition expression, our Directors Cut Edition Nº1, so when it came to choosing the next flavour in our vodka series, Asparagus seemed to be the inevitable choice. An almost more logical choice for vodka, this time untroubled by the distraction of Juniper and Coriander etc. Just plain English Asparagus steeped and distilled in our fantastic British Potato Vodka.

Each year, British Asparagus Season starts on St George's Day, and inspired by everyone's favourite youngest wine, Beaujolais Nouveau, we wanted to get this season's asparagus distilled and into a bottle as quickly as we could. This year's slightly warmer start to the year meant that the asparagus crop arrived earlier, so we managed to get a kick start on the harvest.  

On St George's Day, typically the start of asparagus season, when the steeping was finished, we ran it through our 400L Copper Pot Still, King Henry, and added purified water to bottle it at 40% ABV. No filtration, no additives, nothing else added - just pure Asparagus (and Potato) Vodka. 

Then, we immediately bottled it. Each year, we will be distilling a limited run using that season's asparagus, and once it's gone, you'll just have to wait until the next year to get your hands on another bottle - it's an asparagus vintage! 

And finally, the answer to the question we know you're all thinking... #noitdoesnt!

Nose:

Well, no mistaking what this is, right away the unique aroma of Asparagus is apparent, perhaps joined by a slight (hazel) nuttiness, if we can imagine smell as a colour it is distinctly green on the nose. The nose is enticing, beguiling and for many somewhat intriguing, people are really not accustomed to their alcohol smelling of asparagus.

Palate:

Again, no mistaking what this is, the flavour of asparagus arrives early and lingers long, there is a surprising amount of sweetness, and due to the British Potato Vodkas ability to carry both flavour and texture the whole seems to coat the inside of the mouth and stimulate every inch of the tastebuds.

 Finish:

The sweetness eventually gives way to an earthiness and a nuttiness, the vegetal note also lives long on the palate, no real sensation of alcohol heat is felt in the throat or the palate. The lasting impression is one of freshness, softness, and creaminess.

 Find out more about our British Asparagus Vodka & why we chose Asparagus here.