Notes: An interesting distillery with a very interesting series of vodkas in their portfolio. They actually call it bread wine, but for the sake of simplicity in our reviews we are going to classify it as a vodka (never mind the fact no one would search for bread wine as a category of spirit). Bread wine is actually a more accurate description in some ways than vodka to describe the older more traditional form of vodka, much in the same way that Genever /Jenever forms of gin use the distinction of Vieux Systeme (using pot sills and lower proof distillation to retain flavor)  to the new column stills distillation  methods use more widely today which yields products with less character.

The distillery itself is built along historic lines, using 18th and 19th century drawings to recreate their still – copper pot stills that look more like a cognac charentais or alembic type still or some of the older stills used for other spirits of that period . Here is one of the few pictures of their stills.
The preparation of ingredients uses traditional wash and malting of grains and nothing else. The water is also not some Reverse Osmosis/filtered to death, fear of flavor water but natural spring water.
The Rodoinov & Sons Distillery Boast an extensive portfolio of Vodka/Polugar/Bread Wine Including this Rye and Wheat, Classic Rye, Single Malt Rye, Wheat, and the flavored varieties Caraway, Honey and Allspice, Garlic and Pepper.

Appearance: Clear, oily body, on swirling it leaves a medium to heavy coating on the glass with lots of droplets forming as the liquid retreats.

First Impression: Heavy bready, grainy smells, wheat and rye sweet/sour black pepper notes

Taste: Lovely, oily entry with a heavy, almost viscous body and a taste that reminds you of a heavy Russian rye,with a wheat aftertaste. Absolutely deadly smooth stuff

Drinks: Lovely for use in any vodka cocktail, imparting far more flavor and body in somehow subtle but substantial ways to any cocktail. Where it really shines however is with food, both as a compliment and as a plate cleanser/rest between courses this spirits is capable of acting as both a enhancer and carrier of tastes and also as a rest between a corset settle and wash clean the palate .

Bottle: Clear cylinderical bottle with a tall neck and a dark purple/burgundy attractive cream colored  label with antique fonts with a raised copper metallic “P”at the top of the label with a drawing of a pot still synthetic cork provides a good tight seal but easy to remove

Cigars: Nice dark, oily, cigars stand up and pair well with this spirit in a way a regular column distilled vodka could only aspire to with it’s far too light body and taste. Consider a Hemingway series Maduro, Opus X, or God of Fire, or a decent Cuban if one can be found.

Other: Be careful, this is so smooth and easy to drink. Comparing Grey Goose (aka Avian Fashion Victim Vodka)  to this is like comparing a jug of California red wine to a Bordeaux

Final Thoughts: A lovely, classic and proper  version of what a real vodka (Bread Wine) is about.

Website: http://www.polugar.ru/eng/legal-age

A well laid out and easy to navigate page with some fascinating history on vodkas and bread wine. A quick but must read page for vodka fans – or anyone who wants more information on the vodka family of spirits