Skoal!

With two days to go until Burns Night, you’re probably expecting a whisky round-up, but you know what? Been there, done that more times than I care to remember. So let’s talk vodka instead: it’s just as appropriate a drink at this time of year and, given that the market is saturated with new gins, it’s time for a voddy revival.

Several British distillers, especially those who are patiently waiting for their whisky to mature, certainly seem to think so. And while vodka doesn’t have the sexy aromatics of gin, it can be flavoured in interesting ways. My current obsession is marmalade vodka, be that Chase’s sweet, orange-flavoured Marmalade Vodka (£36.50, John Lewis; 40% abv), which I fancy sloshing into a duck à l’orange, or Fortnum & Mason’s more intense, bitter orange Sir Nigel’s Marmalade Vodka (£25.50 for a 50cl bottle; 40% abv), which is extraordinarily good with dark chocolate and blue cheese alike.

I also like the T.E.A. (Tea Enriched Alcohol) company’s almost grappa-like Earl Grey Vodka (£33.95, The Whisky Exchange; 40% abv) which I stumbled across (figuratively speaking) in my local Bristol deli, Chandos, and Black Cow (40% abv), a seductively creamy, milk-based vodka from Dorset that makes a great dirty martini: stockists for that include Booths (£30) Majestic (£28.80 on a “mix six” deal) and Marks & Spencer (£26 for 50cl, though Cambridge Wine Merchants has it at £24.99 for the same amount).

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