by THOMAS JUKES To create the smoothest of spirits there must be hardships along the way. That’s not one of those quotes from an inspirational poster you’d find on an office wall but it does hint towards the tale of this vodka. The founder, creator, and maker of Konik’s Tail is one, Pleurat Shabani, I caught up with Pleurat over the phone to get his personal insight on a few subjects. Born in Kosovo in 1971 Pleurat was about to start a life of unseen and terrible adversities. Deep political and social tensions were rife, by the age of nine Pleurat would be seen standing atop the rubble of his family home, destroyed as a result of his parent's rejection of the communist imposed regime. Jump to 1986 and a 15-year-old Pleurat is arrested by The State Security Service (UDBA), but that same week he goes into hiding and slips across into what we now know as Croatia. Three years go by and a still-young, Pluerat is arrested and imprisoned for protesting against the communist regime. Two years later Croatia breaks out in a bloody civil war.
Understanding the terroir, with me it's all about the terroir. It’s all about the soil, the climate, and the gut feeling.” In his search for perfection he settled on Poland, as it has some if not the most fertile soil in Europe. He explains to me, “I wanted to go to a place where no PR or marketing companies had reached. I learnt from the best, I learnt from the farmers where they make their own moonshine. You put your love, the passion, it’s the heart that goes inside the bottle.” Once he had settled on the distillery with the best water source and grain spirit it was time to make the careful and considered choice of grains to give the bold and characterful flavour he was after.
Pluerat Shabini survives 5 years in the conflict before managing the escape to London in 1994. He took up work as a toilet cleaner but soon had lost both his job and his flat. Homeless and questioning where to go he borrowed a shirt and a pair of trousers and was given a second chance in life as a bar back before working briefly as a bartender. From this second chance he met a group of distillers from Germany, I asked Pleurat why he made his next life step and how he ended up travelling Europe with these distillers. “I always wanted to learn, how do you make a spirit. How is a spirit produced? What’s the difference between a white spirit and a brown spirit.” “They always say that every bottle behind the bar has a story, every bottle has a personality. Different cultures. Tequila, you’ve got the Mexican culture in a bottle. You’ve got the Polish culture in a vodka bottle. Just to understand the roots.” While out in Europe Pleurat's bartending experience would see him take the next step on the road to creating his iconic spirit. He tells me, “When explaining to them the nose, the palette, and the finish, they were hugely impressed. So I started working with them. In creating the recipes for the vodka distilleries in the vodka belt countries. The belt countries are Russia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Ukraine.
I asked Pleurat how he finally decided on his signature recipe, “Trial and error. I produced seven or eight bottles, at this stage I didn’t have a bottle, I didn’t have a design, not even the name of a brand. I had bottles from the farmers, one shorter, one taller, one fat and square, one round. Whatever they had in their sheds.” This trial and error would span 4 and a half years and see him go through, “150 trips to and from Poland” each time speaking to “bartenders: wholesalers, distributors, the buyers, Selfridges, Harrods, Harvey Nicks. Giving it to the journalists, the food and drinks editors, and getting their reaction” refining and changing the recipe every step of the way, eventually taking “450 blends to settle on the recipe.” Enter the final product, arguably one of the best vodkas in the world for sheer character and flavour. Konik’s Tail, an uncompromising Polish vodka stands tall in the elegant hand labelled, hand filled and hand-signed bottle.
I spent over 14 years creating recipes for the vodka distilleries. One day I thought, you know I’ve been making it for someone else so I want to make it better for myself. That’s how the whole thing started, you know, understanding the textures, the flavors, the aromas and just understanding how do you go from field to bottle.
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