Savage Rabbit Vodka - From Glacial Calm to Playful Chaos.

Vodka has long been the introvert of the spirits world - polite, restrained, and all too happy to disappear into soda or tonic. Conceived in Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains, Savage Rabbit Vodka was never destined to hide in the background. It arrives masked in alpine purity only to pull the disguise away mid-sip, revealing something far more intriguing: a spirit with both elegance and a mischievous streak.

Its birthplace is no accident. The Tatras are a study in extremes - pristine lakes reflecting jagged ridgelines, shadowed by legends of prowling wolves and sly spirits. That sense of duality - purity crossed with wild unpredictability - sits at the heart of Savage Rabbit. A careful duet of winter wheat and rye underpins the vodka, with glacial spring water weaving in its alpine purity. Before bottling, the vodka is cooled to -3°C and coaxed through charcoal, silver, and platinum filtration. It’s alchemy bordering on indulgence, delivering a texture so smooth it feels less like spirit and more like liquid silk.

Not your average wallflower - this rabbit’s got a wild streak and a taste for adventure.

But unlike so many vodkas that pride themselves on neutrality, Savage Rabbit has a voice - and it uses it slyly. The nose sidles in with the brightness of grapefruit peel, softened by roasted pecan shells and a faint alpine sharpness, as though someone snapped an icicle straight from a mountain stream. The palate unfolds in chapters rather than notes: a green apple snap gives way to late-summer melon, before almond creaminess rounds the edges. Just when you think you’ve mapped its terrain, a flicker of white pepper and a mineral hum remind you of its high-altitude provenance. The finish is long, buttery, and luxuriously smooth, yet laced with a playful bite - the afterglow of a story told a little too late at night.

It’s this tension between refinement and rebellion that makes Savage Rabbit compelling. On one hand, it’s steeped in old-world distilling tradition, carrying the terroir of Eastern Europe in its bones. On the other, it’s deliberately modern, designed for those who want their spirits to spark conversation rather than fade into the background. This is vodka not as a blank canvas, but as bold graffiti across a pristine alpine wall.

Australia, always eager for spirits with a story, will soon get its first taste - and the timing is fortuitous. No longer confined to its 1990s clubland clichés, vodka is slipping into a more refined identity - one rooted in provenance and subtle craft. Savage Rabbit has already positioned itself at the forefront, snagging Gold and the title of Vodka of the Year at the 2025 Melbourne International Spirits Competition with a near-perfect 95 points, the only vodka to do so among more than 200 international entries.

Ultimately, Savage Rabbit isn’t vodka for purists who prefer their drinks invisible. It’s vodka for the curious, the social, and the style-conscious - those who appreciate a spirit with both pedigree and playfulness. Behind the mask lies something smooth, refined, and just wild enough to be dangerous. And that, frankly, is the kind of trouble worth chasing.

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Words by AW.

Photo courtesy of Savage Rabbit.