26 OCTOBER 1985, Page 25

Admirable vodkas

Sir: I am shocked by Mr Waugh's reference to vodka — 'the dullest and most brutish way of imbibing alcohol which mankind has yet invented' (Another voice, 5 Octo- ber). As he refers to it as 'the national drink of Russia' perhaps his judgment is tainted with right-wing prejudice or perhaps he has only drunk the degraded Western versions often called Smirnoff to mislead. He will find admirable the Polish and Finnish vodkas and also the exported Russian each differentiated by a distinct and subtle flavour — a pure drink unlike. whisky without colouring matter and of the same strength.

Graham Greene

Antibes, France