Notes: A new premium vodka from the famous Rodnik Distillery in Moscow , this is a very tailor made and detail oriented vodka that takes a lot of  care and skill to handcraft a very interesting approach to vodka.Using water drawn from a 138 meter deep (approximately 400 ft deep) well drawing on the Mytischchi springs which have been used since Czarist times to make vodka.
The important point to this is that this is not some fear of flavor reverse osmosis distilled water that tastes like nothing at all to start with unlike the oceans of soulless vodkas out there on the market today.RO water to me is like wearing a condom – you don’t feel ( or taste) anything. This is not the case of a spirits that uses deep well water, especially a vodka which is essentially naked and depends a great deal on its mineral structure and content of water to give it what I call for lack of a better terms its bones, Something for the spirit to hang from and define shape,taste and mouthfeel and from which the spirit is given structure and framework to hang, mold and build upon.
The second element you need in a vodka is a decent grain distillate ( from a skillful distillation) as this is the second largest component in a vodka ( or equal component for a 100 proof vodka) Russian Diamond accomplish this though the use of a wheat and rye blend so you get the smoothness and mouthfeel of the wheat paired with the spicy complexity of a rye and a somewhat weightier mouthfeel and presence.

After water, careful distillation of good quality grains you come down to the filtering, wish if I may continue my exposition in a similar vein, is like the make up on a woman.
Ideally you want to use the natural beauty and charm,accentuating but not masking all the qualities,quirks and character that make that spirit what they are. You should most mask by over application and treatment the natural qualities and make a soulless porcelain doll out of either. Objectivism or reducing to an object of bland,mass, and shallow qualities is both possible for humans and vodka, and it is done for too much for the sake of lowest common denominator marketing. It is easy, inexpensive, and requires little art to follow a formula to reduce. It takes and artist to accentuate, hone, draw out, highlight, and underscore naturally occurring qualities not bury them. Many vodkas suffer from brute force multiple over distillations and filtrations, reducing them to something with about as much character as a mass produced stamped out piece of white clay all the same looking with about as much character in terms of taste and body. I could probably throw in a few comments about porn actresses also but I think you get my point. Manufactured sameness following formulaic modification of an individual.

Thankfully Russian Diamond does not follow this model. While is uses 57 steps ( the same number as the facets on a diamond hence the name, it follows the same philosophy as make up or diamond cutting, how to show off what you are working with to it’s absolute best while removing as little as possible,but seeing, assessing, sensing  and realizing the natural beauty through the artist accentuating what is already there, that my friends is art at its best and most sublime..
The way they accomplish all this is quite complex and I will try to detail it as best I can.
They use an amazing array of 57 stages of filtration including precious stones and metals – not that their use per se impresses us but the chemical interactions can have great effects.They include multiple fabric filters, Siberian Pine needles, larch trees, herbs and grains, schungite, rock crystal, smoke stone, onyx to name a few. The vodka is then rested being put in total silence and quietude for a period to mellow and settle down.

Appearance:  Silvery appearance with a light oily body. On swirling it leaves a very uniform light to medium coat on the glass with tears forming along the edgeline

First Impression: Slightly green/grassy notes(cucumber?) and slightly resinous notes with cereal grains and spiciness. Nicely rounded bouquet, not thin, spirity, and cutting like many wheat vodkas.

Taste: Oily silk like entry with a touch of grain sweetness and grain notes with the sweet sour of rye kicking in after a few seconds, giving way to a pleasant cereal like dry notes. The slightly sweet oily /creamy notes of wheat germ intermixed with the rye spiciness provide a nice almost fleshy mouthfeel and body to the spirit.) Nice minerality and body to the vodka with a medium to heavy mineral feel giving the vodka a wonderful depth and bones.

Drinks: Work well in a lost every cocktail we used it in calling for vodka. It leant a definite presence and mouthfeel in every drink in a smooth yet weighty way, lending a helping hand in increasing the overall sipping smoothness and gravity in the cocktail. You fret and tasted it in the cocktail and it was a very positive presence even in some of th lesser vodka cocktails.

Bottle: Beautiful tall clear glass fluted and faceted bottle with a heavy decanter type base, longish neck.Topped  with a clear glass stopper top with a small nylon collar to assure a good fit very nice touch that adds to the luxury feel . Bottle has nice feel to it and well proportioned for the hand to pour and decent balance. Label material and artwork are similarly impressive, using an Italian blue felt label, raised and ribbed  silver lettering, in sort a lovely overall package with a lot of eye appeal on the shelf.

Final Thoughts: One of the best vodkas we have had in quite a while. NOT one of those fear of flavor revers osmosis sissy water and grain neural spirits vodkas. Again to use a woman analogy, think of a luscious, curvaceous woman with a great body and bone structure compared to some anorexic high fashion model. A real vodka for people who want the real thing, not some fear of flavor bland and tasteless alcohol and distilled water mix. A world of difference and back to the old style.

Website: www.russiandiamond.com