The vodka beat off stiff competition from 249 rivals at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition - just two years after being featured in Potato Processing magazine.

Thirty panellists blind tasted the vodka before rating Chase the best - even over Russian and Polish brands.

Potato farmer William Chase decided to turn his hand to distilling in 2008 after selling posh crisp brand, Tyrrell's.

He uses potatoes dug from his Herefordshire fields before adding water, fermenting, distilling and finally bottling the gourmet vodka.

Since winning the award, Chase has enjoyed an increase in demand, especially in the US.

The entrepreneur is now looking to increase production from 1,000 to 2,000 - 3,000 a week.