Introduction

Stolichnaya is the original, authentic, best known and best selling genuine Russian vodka. It’s the most prestigious vodka brand and is rated the best in the world. At the 2005 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Stolichnaya brought home the highest honour with ‘Best Vodka of Show’. With more than 600 spirits entries from around the world, judging is based on blind taste tests and medals are awarded on taste alone. This award affirms that Stolichnaya has developed one of the most highly regarded premium spirits in the industry.

History

Born and bred in St Petersburg’s most distinguished distillery, it owes its smooth and velvety character to the high quality ingredients it uses. Stolichnaya uses a 500 year-old Russian double distillation method and also a quadruple filtration process. Stolichnaya is Russian for capital city, and the iconic red label depicts the Moskva Hotel in Moscow, which was built during Stalin’s rule in 1932. The building housed the city’s first subway station.

We all know how the world’s most famous spy prefers his Martinis, and it’s little surprise to learn that Stolichnaya is one of his favourite ingredients. In You Only Live Twice, Dikko Henderson fixes James Bond’s cocktail with Stoli bought from the doorman at the Russian embassy in Tokyo, while in A View to a Kill, Bond produces a bottle of Stoli during a submarine trip and declares it ‘rather shaken’.

How to enjoy the brand

The finest Russian quality wheat and rye are combined with unprocessed Russian water. It is double-distilled and then filtered four times: through quartz, Siberian birch charcoal, quartz for a second time, then finally through tightly woven cloth for added complexity. This yields a high, unmistakable, quality family of genuine Russian vodkas with complex layers of aroma and flavour, and a crystal clear transparency.