I’m sure this happens to most cocktail or spirit enthusiasts; you start to spread the gospel about how much you have come to appreciate well-balanced drinks and top-shelf ingredients and suddenly everyone you know is contributing to your cause. Friends bring unused liquor from relatives past and present, every gift you receive is somehow a boon to your home bar, and parents and friends’ parents are suddenly donating tools and refrigeration for your bar since your wife is very very tired of looking at all the bottles and bar-related substances in her refrigerator (sorry about that, hon). So, this post comes from two such windfalls; a friend of mine’s parents went to Russia some years ago and brought back two bottles of locally-produced vodka (the sort they crack open with breakfast there) and my inlaws just got back from a road trip to the West Coast during which they had plenty of time to visit liquor stores and, thankfully, kept me in mind.

Hence I found my father-in-law asking me if I wanted to do a ‘Cheap Vodka Night’ along with my non-imported Russian brand. Naturally, I said, ‘Sure!’. His contributions to the dubious experiment were Moskovskaya (i.e. ‘Muscovite’) and Volganaya, an Estonian vodka. Mine was the middle bottle there, which you can tell from the label alone is a Stolichnaya vodka. However, it is a regionally produced version of Stoli, versus the mass-imported which is pretty much unrelated to the locally-produced versions. In this case, the bottle comes from Ulyanovsk (the top lettering there) a.k.a. Simbirsk (the bottom lettering), a city on the Volga river which was the birthplace of both Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Kerensky. Quite the pedigree, that one. The tasting process will be very similar to my gin experience except that instead of using the Gin Gin Highball as the testing mixed drink, we used a simple vodka tonic as the control drink (2:1 tonic to vodka ratio using Stirrings Tonic Water – which is excellent btw). Let’s see how these burned our freaking taste buds to a crisp pleased the palate.

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Moskovskaya:

There’s little available in the way of information on this vodka, however, as you would expect it is made from grain neutral spirits and is 40% ABV (or 80 proof). You’ll notice that the label prominently displays medals and has a similar layout and design scheme as the classic import Stolichnaya bottle. The term ‘Osobaya’ indicates ‘Special’ much like we would use the term ‘Premium’ to market our products. Let’s see just how special it is…

Nose/Bouquet: Alcohol alcohol, and more alcohol dominate this bouquet. There is a slight hint of pepper and herbals in the background but it’s completely overwhelmed by the, well, alcohol. Clear out the sinuses this one will.

‘Neat’ Tasting:  Harsh with stronger pepper notes than the nose gave, and, pleasingly and mercifully, it has a clean finish. It hits the palate with a hammer and leaves with velvet; very nice towards the end. I would like to see how it performs chilled.

Cocktail Tasting:  This vodka really shines through in the drink. It has just enough character to make itself known and enough courtesy to play nicely. I was very surprised at how well it performed. There’s some astringency, but in the vodka tonic it wasn’t unwelcome and there was a tad more citrus then I got from the neat tasting, but that might have been the lime squeeze more than the vodka. A nice surprise.
 

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Столичная Ульяновск:
You can read all about the trials and tribulations Stolichnaya and the Russian government have regarding the import/export of Stoli and the use of the name, but suffice it to say that you cannot assume the Stoli available in Russia to be anything like what is imported to the U.S. Notice that the bottle is missing the medals found on the imported version and that the layout is slightly different. I also found the bottle interesting in that it just sort of had this tin lid that you peeled off versus a screw cap, stopper, or bottlecap top. Instead you have to wrench the tin off and there is no way to reseal it using the lid. I’m assuming this means one normally drinks or finishes it off by sharing in one sitting. Admirable really. 

Nose/Bouquet: This comes across much more smooth than both the Moskovskaya and Volganaya. There is still an isopropyl feel to it but there’s a lot more going on. Heavy on the herbal and citrus with a muted quality to everything.

‘Neat’ Tasting:  As with the nose, much more smooth than the other two. It lacked complexity but reminded me much more of what we expect from a Russian vodka in the West. If I had to guess I would say this had more filtration involved than the other two, whether that’s a good or bad thing we shall see. This is nice on its own though.

Cocktail Tasting:  This vodka gets lost even in a simple vodka tonic. All that was there was the sweet/bitter of the tonic and the citrus of the squeeze of lime. Just insipid and flat; the only one that Joana screwed up her face to and quickly passed along. My mother-in-law managed to put it out of its misery, somehow. Does not play well with others, check.

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Volganaya:

There is even less information on Volganaya than the other two vodkas, but, as you can see, the bottle emulates many of the high-end/premium bottle styles in the West with its frosted glass and silver/burgundy and cursive writing motif. Estonia doesn’t have the same tradition of styles as Russia and Poland, but this vodka weighs in at the traditional 40% ABV and appears to be a grain (versus potato or otherwise) distilled vodka. One of the interesting consistencies between these vodkas that separates them from our Western fare (besides the price) is their lack of emphasis on filteration. On none of the bottles is filtration or the specific type of grain or distillation process mentioned.

Nose/Bouquet: Not quite as alcohol-laden as the Moskovskaya it still has a harsh nose with a little more tendency towards herbs and grass than the Moskovskaya had. Not much else to report here.

‘Neat’ Tasting:  More enjoyable than the Moskovskaya, the Volganaya still lacks depth and character. The finish is incredibly long, however. I was well into opening the next bottle and still had the aftertaste of this lingering. Unfortunately, the aftertaste wasn’t altogether pleasant (sort of brackish) and it didn’t change or evolve in the way a high-quality spirit’s finish will.

Cocktail Tasting:  This isn’t bad at all as a mixer. It brought its own character to the mix (made the vodka tonic a bit more bitter actually) without getting lost or overwhelming the drink. I don’t put it on the same level as the Moskovskaya for quality as a mixer, but it’s not a bad choice and doesn’t add the burn like a Tvarscki or McCormick’s vodka will.

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If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area, you can probably find the Moskovskaya and Volganaya vodkas. I can, with little reservation, recommend the Moskovskaya as a good mixing vodka, even in drinks in which the vodka will be prominently featured (such as the vodka tonic). The Volganaya doesn’t serve quite as well and the Ulyanovsk Stoli is probably unattainable (and should be served neat based on this experience). These vodkas are all under or around $10/liter so I  think the value:quality ratio strongly favors the Moskovskaya. Don’t mistake these for Grey Goose, Chopin, or Reyka vodkas for heaven’s sake, but also don’t mistake them for rot-gut; they’re far from it.