Production process
From the finest ingredients to the most advanced filtration systems, our production facilities and practices have reset industry standards.
With the 2006 opening of our $60 million state-of-the-art distillery in St. Petersburg, Russia, the world inherited a new landmark for liquid luxury. Designed to enhance over 700 years of vodka-making savoir-faire using the most advanced technologies possible, our 30,000 square meter plant has raised the bar on production precision while simultaneously signaling Russia's renaissance as the 21st century leader of premium vodkas.
Adhering faithfully to Dmitri Mendeleev's 1894 formula for vodka, we have devised a strict four-tier production protocol (mashing and fermenting, distillation and rectification, filtration and relaxation and bottling and packaging), pairing the finest raw ingredients with the most exacting systems.
Since luxury begins with the quality and rarity of materials used, we source nature's very best for our vodkas. We hand select the best winter wheat grains from the fertile soil of the Southern Russian Steppes. The secret to the "wheat flavor" of traditional Russia vodka, this choice grain is masterfully milled and fermented to extract its attributes in the first part of the production process. The resulting rich, raw spirit is then distilled four times to create the ultra-luxurious base for our Russian Standard Original and Platinum brands, while an additional four distillations goes into our scintillating Imperia spirit.
Water, the substantive soul of vodka (the word literally means "little water" in Russia) is a crucial component of the production process. One of the key reasons for choosing our site in St. Petersburg was for its proximity to an inexhaustible supply of crystal clear glacial water drawn from the underground sources of Lake Lagoda, home to some of the softest water on Earth. All Russian Standard spirits are blended with this signature soft water before filtration.
In our search for absolute transparency and purity, we have developed three different filtration techniques to produce unique qualities in each spirit: Russian Standard Original is filtered four times through charcoal for a clear, subtly-sweet wheat taste; Platinum, an additional two times through silver for a crisp and pure finish; and Imperia twice more through crystal quartz from the Ural Mountains for a complex, velvety smooth character.
The filtered spirits then pass to relaxation tanks where they are left to mature for 48 hours—an indulgence by industry standards—to achieve Mendeleev's equilibrium of 40% alcohol by volume.
Finally, our spirits are bottled at four high speed bottling lines to satisfy the growing demand of our products in Russia and international markets. But no matter how future-forward our systems are, we are first and foremost respectful to nature's glorious gifts, which is why we are proud that our distillery is an environmentally responsible one. Be it the quality and precision of our products or our commitment to protecting the earth, we continue to set new standards for ourselves and our industry.
