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Potato juice or elixir? What’s the new wave of Vodkas about?Skyy: Quadruple distilled, then passes through three filters to remove almost all impurities. It is then diluted with pure water leaving a very drinkable spirit.Grey Goose: Made in the Cognac region of France, this is getting posh. Ordering a Grey Goose martini will impress your mates, but borrowing the money off them to pay for it won’t.Belvedere: Luxury Polish rye vodka. Belvedere claims the recipe is 600 years old. This ain’t no potato juice.Vincent Van Gogh: From the land of clogs and jazz cigarettes comes a vodka that boasts flavours from chocolate to pineapple. Mmm, chocolate martinis.42 Below: Hailing from New Zealand (yup, 42 degrees below the equator, check a map if you like) this is made from GM-free wheat, distilled four times and then goes through 35 filters. Those Kiwis hate their impurities.Ciroc: A French vodka made from grapes, would you believe it? Is it a vodka then? Yeah, actually it is. Distilled five times, Ciroc isn’t a novelty drink, okay.UK5: Made from organic ingredients this British (yes, we thought it odd too) vodka didn’t need to go through a carbon filter because of the purity of the wheat to begin with. A smooth drink without the burny, back of the throat feeling.There was a time when carrying a bottle of red Smirnoff under your arm into a party was acceptable. Not any more, apparently. In the last four years we’ve seen the arrival of the boutique vodkas. Belvedere, Skyy, Grey Goose and 42 Below are some. These super premiums boast almost complete purity, and have changed how we look at what we thought was just Russian potato juice.”It’s not just vodka, it’s the whole spirit market -

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