Chase (potato) Vodka voted world's best

It is enough to make a patriotic Russian need a stiff drink to get over the shock - an English vodka has been voted the best in the world.

Chase Vodka has triumphed in the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, beating 249 rivals from around the globe, including Russia and Poland's finest.

Tasted under blind conditions (all the bottles were covered to maintain anonymity), Chase was preferred by a 30-strong panel of independent judges.

And instead of being produced by one of the global drink giants in a huge, automated distillery, Chase is made on a farm in Herefordshire - from potatoes.

The Potatoes are all grown in the farm's own fields, before being added to water, fermented, and then distilled and bottled. It all takes place on site.

First produced in 2008, Chase is the brainchild of potato farmer William Chase, the man who founded posh crisp company Tyrrell's.