Russian Standard Vodka is a major Russian company producer of the premium vodka brand with 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. The Russian Standard, later called Original, vodka established the brand as one of the top premium vodka brands in the Russian market. Its new Russian, Soviet-free identity, turned an advantage in the rapidly developing market of the 1990sRussia. 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 brandImperia in 2004. The original product was re-christened Original. In 2006, a new distillery with 4 million cases/yr capacity was opened in Saint Petersburg.
Market position
According to the manufacturer, in 2001 the brand was active worldwide in 80+ markets with sales over 2 million cases/yr. Marketing emphasizes the 100% Russian mantra – being produced by a Russian recipe, from only Russian raw materials, distilled and bottled in Russia. Russian Standard aroused controversy when it questioned the Russianness of its chief international rival Stolichnaya. At that time, Stolichnaya was distilled in Russia but bottled in Latvia. Stolichnaya distributor, Pernod Ricard, responded by insisting that Stolichnaya is an authentic Russian vodka, as nothing is added or removed during the bottling. In a 2006 overview of Russian premium vodkas for Vanity Fair, the "Imperia" product stood alone with a top A+ grade.
Production
Production of the Russian Standard Original is based on a four-tier protocol:
Higher-end products add more purification steps. Winter grain from Russian steppes is milled and fermented. The raw spirit is distilled four times for the Original, six times for Platinum, while the Imperia spirit is distilled eight times. 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. The product is then filtered four times through charcoal. Platinum receives two more filtrations through silver and Imperia two more filtrations through quartz from the Ural Mountains. After final filtration, the spirits spend 48 hours in relaxation tanks, are bottled and packaged. As vodka contains only water and ethanol, it generally does not mature or age and its shelf life is limited only by packaging.
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", or that the vodka is "compliant with the highest quality of Russian vodka approved by the royal government commission headed by Mendeleev in 1894." 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.
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
