Russian Standard (vodka)

Russian Standard Vodka
TypeVodka
ManufacturerRussian Standard
Country of origin Russia
Introduced1998 by Roustam Tariko
Alcohol by volume 40%
Proof (US)80
Related productsList of vodkas
Websitewww.russianstandardvodka.com

Russian Standard (Russian: Ру́сский Станда́рт, romanized: Rússky Standárt, IPA: [ˈrusːkʲɪj stɐnˈdart]) is a major Russian company producing the vodka brand of the same name. The brand was founded by Roustam Tariko in 1998.

History

The brand was introduced as the "Russian Standard" vodka in 1998 by the Russian Standard company of Roustam Tariko.

Two years after a successful Russian market launch, international expansion was started. This was accompanied by the launch of Russian Standard Platinum product in 2001 and the luxury brand Imperia in 2004.[1] The original product was re-christened Original.

In 2006, a new distillery with four million cases/yr capacity was opened in Saint Petersburg.[2]

In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company was hit by several retail boycotts on Russian-branded vodka. Some legislations also adopted boycott policies. On 26 February 2022, Ohio governor Mike DeWine announced that he had directed the Ohio Department of Commerce to "cease both the purchase & sale of all vodka made by Russian Standard".[3][4] On 11 March, U.S. president Joe Biden issued an executive order blocking U.S. imports of key Russian products, including vodka, and banning exports of high-end goods to Russia.[citation needed] In the United Kingdom, the supermarket chains Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Co-op Food and Aldi removed Russian Standard vodka from their shelves.[5]

Market position

In a 2006 overview of Russian premium vodkas for Vanity Fair, the "Imperia" product stood alone with a top A+ grade.[6]

Production

Production of the Russian Standard Original is based on a four-step protocol:[7]

  1. mashing and fermenting
  2. distillation and rectification
  3. filtration and relaxation
  4. bottling and packaging.

Higher-end products add more purification steps.

Winter grain from Russian steppes is milled and fermented.

The spirits are blended with water from Lake Ladoga. The proximity of Lake Ladoga was one of the main reasons for the company's decision to establish its distillery in Saint Petersburg. The lake's underground sources provide one of the softest waters naturally available.[8]

The product is then filtered four times through charcoal.

Mendeleev myth

The marketing claims that, "In 1894, Dmitri Mendeleev, the greatest scientist in all Russia, received the decree to set the Imperial quality standard for Russian vodka and the 'Russian Standard' was born",[9] or that the vodka is "compliant with the highest quality of Russian vodka approved by the royal government commission headed by Mendeleev in 1894."[10]

This, however, is based on a popular myth that Mendeleev's 1865 doctoral dissertation "A Discourse on the combination of alcohol and water" contained a statement that 38% is the ideal strength of vodka, and that this number was later rounded to 40% to simplify the calculation of alcohol tax. However, Mendeleev's dissertation was about alcohol concentrations over 70% and he never wrote anything about vodka. Furthermore, the 40% standard strength was introduced by the Russian government already in 1843, when Mendeleev was nine years old.[10]

Variants

  • Russian Standard Vodka
    • Original product launched in 1998
    • Raw ingredients: winter grains from Russian Steppes, glacial water from Lake Ladoga
    • Distilled four times and filtered four times through charcoal
  • Russian Standard Gold
    • Notes of vanilla, caramel, and spearmint
    • Added ingredient Siberian ginseng extract
  • Russian Standard Platinum
    • Higher-end product, launched 2001
    • Filtered additional two times through silver.
  • Imperial
    • The luxury brand, launched 2004
    • Distilled additional four times.
    • Filtered additional two times through quartz.

See also

References

  1. ^ Nora FitzGerald (24 February 2006), "High-end vodka is keeping spirits up", The New York Times, retrieved 25 December 2010
  2. ^ Dermot Davitt (13 November 2008), "Russian Standard reveals grand ambitions to become a global force in premium vodka segment", The Moodie Report, London: Moodie International, archived from the original on 22 July 2011, retrieved 22 November 2011
  3. ^ Remington, Kaylee; clevel; .com (26 February 2022). "Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine orders stop to Russian-made vodka sales". cleveland. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  4. ^ DeWine, Mike [@GovMikeDeWine] (26 February 2022). "Today I directed @OhioCommerce to cease both the purchase & sale of all vodka made by Russian Standard, the only overseas, Russian-owned distillery with vodka sold in Ohio. Russian Standard's vodka is sold under the brand names of Green Mark Vodka & Russian Standard Vodka" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Sainsbury's renames chicken kievs and pulls Russian-made vodka". The Guardian. 4 March 2022.
  6. ^ Brett Forrest (12 December 2006), "The Great Vodka Taste Test", Vanity Fair, archived from the original on 28 November 2010, retrieved 25 December 2010
  7. ^ "Production Process", Russian Standard corporate website, Russian Standard Company. Note that a query screen requesting date of birth and country of origin intercede. Also, page dynamics do not work properly under Chrome running on Ubuntu Linux.
  8. ^ "Russian Standard Vodka". Russian Standard Vodka Corporate Website. Russian Standard Vodka Company. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  9. ^ Sainsburys: "Russian Standard Vodka 1L". Retrieved 28 June 2014
  10. ^ a b Evseev, Anton (21 November 2011). "Dmitry Mendeleev and 40 degrees of Russian vodka". Science. Moscow: English Pravda.Ru. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
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