Our Craft
To create the perfect vodka we looked East. To East Anglia.
The Ingredients
Vodka originated in either Russia or Poland, depending on who you ask, and it can be made from all manner of ingredients.
The original varieties however were rye, wheat, potato and sugar beet. Which brings us neatly to East Anglia – for centuries the home of the finest sugar beet.
Many vodkas are made with ingredients from the cheapest sources, shipped from far and wide. Why do that when we have all we need here?
At our small distillery in Cambridgeshire we combine sugar beet from East Anglia with mineral-rich spring water from ancient aquifers in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Using a single distillation process we then produce a rich, smooth vodka that’s quite unlike anything else.
Single Distillation
Don’t believe everything you’re told about triple distilling.
This is only necessary because of the high production volume of mass-market vodka. Which means it can’t be kept at the optimum temperature for one, finely controlled distillation.
Ironically, ‘three times distilled’ actually means, ‘mass-produced vodka that we can’t get right first time…’
Renaissance, on the other hand, is distilled only once in handmade copper stills.
This is the original method of making vodka, which our Master Distiller has then spent years refining to produce the rich, smooth finish of Renaissance.
The craft
The distillation process is as much an art as a science, so although we can’t explain everything, here’s a snifter.
First we make a ‘mash’ from the sugar beet and spring water. This is then distilled just once in a handmade copper still.
The first and last parts of the distillation, called the ‘heads’ and ‘tails’, are discarded, leaving the perfect, pure ‘heart’. Careful ‘cutting’ of the heads and tails ensures that only the very finest vodka emerges for bottling.
A precise boiling point is also crucial and varies depending on air pressure and humidity. This means each distillation has to be adapted to that day’s temperature and a number of other variables also.
Handcrafted in every sense.
The Difference
The refined nature of Renaissance is simply due to the care we take.
Our use of just two impeccably sourced ingredients – East Anglian sugar beet and Yorkshire spring water; the finely honed skills of our Master Distiller; and the carefully perfected single distillation in copper stills.
All this combines to deliver a smooth, rich English vodka.
Wonderful on its own with a single ice cube perhaps, but also in cocktails – adding notes all of its own to the mix.
Renaissance. Exceptional vodka. English style.
