

On the eve of the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the emperor was seeking to impose a prohibition on alcohol consumption. Vodka made up 91% of all alcohol consumed. Making Modern SpiritsĪccording to another disputed story, Dmitri Mendeleev - yes, the guy that developed the periodic table - is credited with crafting the first “modern” vodka recipe. By 1648 - well after Ivan’s demise - nearly a third of Russian men were in debt to these taverns. Ivan was also the first to use alcohol, and vodka in particular, to keep his subjects drunk and divided, a tactic that Stalin would later appropriate. In other words, you will find no separation of vodka and state in Russia. Ivan enforced a state monopoly on production and opened state-owned taverns where men could drink on credit.
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According to a number of historians, it was the 16th century ruler Ivan the Terrible who first saw the political power that could come from alcohol. Just because the drink was low in alcohol content doesn’t mean it wasn’t capable of getting folks tipsy - a fact that the rulers of Russia recognized to their advantage. That’s when refining techniques improved the spirit’s overall quality, intensified its alcohol content, and led to the need to moderate the volume of consumption. In fact, the alcohol content was so low that vodka was actually sold by the bucket until the 18th or 19th century. We sliced up some ham, spread some caviar over salted crackers, pulled out our herring and pickles, and filled our granyonyi stakan to the top as we went in search of the best Russian vodka in 2022.Įarlier versions of vodka were low in alcohol content and in quality. And of course, we did a little taste-testing ourselves! RAVE developed a list just for you by conducting hours of online research, checking in with trusted mixologists, industry experts, and vodka lovers worldwide. With so many options to choose from you, where do you start? Well, that’s where we come in!

Will Rogers once said, “Nobody in the world knows what is made out of, and the reason I tell you this is that the story of vodka is the story of Russia.”Today there are dozens of Russian vodkas on the market, and many of them just recently became available in countries outside the traditional vodka drinking nations - often called the “vodka belt.”

Want a quick look at our choice for the best Russian vodka? We chose Stolichnaya Elit. Inspired by traditional Russian filtering methods, this premium vodka is great for drinking straight or in cocktails! But there are many more Russian vodkas to consider, because let’s be honest. In popular imagination, the mind associates Russia with savory beluga sturgeon caviar, the literature of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, beautiful Fabergé eggs, and of course, vodka.
