Review: Russian Standard Imperia Vodka
If you aren’t familiar with Russian Standard’s Imperia vodka (it’s highest-end of three bottlings) due to its ubiquitous print advertising, you won’t miss the angular, hexagon-bottomed bottle at the liquor store. It looks like something that ought to have been erected on the outskirts of Moscow during the Yeltsin years, a stark monument to drowned sorrows and liver damage.
Imperia ain’t Popov, though. It’s a premium vodka with a premium price (considerably more expensive than, say, Stoli), made from winter wheat and distilled a nearly-ridiculous eight times along the way. It is later filtered four times, twice through Ural Mountain Range quartz crystals. No idea how that works, but there you go: It all must be part of Dmitri Mendeleev’s original recipe, created for Czar Alexander III in 1894. Russian Standard says it uses the same recipe today.
Ah, but how does it taste? Not bad. It’s clearly a Russian, grain-based vodka, though not too strong at 80 proof. All that distilling and filtering leaves it with a very faint flavor. If you’re looking for an utterly neutral spirit to blend cocktails with, you’ve found it. Imperia is left with very little on its own, just a slight bittersweetness and a faint taste of almonds, followed by a mild rubbing alcohol finish. You could really sip this all day like water.
One caveat: At $34, it’s one of the most expensive vodkas on the market. It’s a nice spirit, but many may find it tough to shell out the asking price when others are about as good at half the price. Your call.
B+ / $34 / russianstandard.com
April 7th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
[...] version of its vodka in addition to a “Platinum” bottling and its vaunted “Imperia,” which I’ve previously reviewed. All are made in basically the same way, with a few [...]
April 7th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
[...] the brand new ZYR is bottled based on recipes recorded by Dmitri Mendeleev (much like Russian Standard’s Imperia claims), creator of the Periodic Table of Elements and officially responsible for standardizing vodka [...]
August 11th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
[...] Russian Standard Imperia before it, Orzel is an old vodka brand which is invading America, with a huge marketing push [...]
January 21st, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Call me an elitist, but I only drink Russian Standard Imperia.
I don’t know the biochemistry of it all, but I have never had a hangover, nor the sluggish feeling the next day after a night of drinks mixers with an Imperia base.
I can’t say the same for any other vodka.
May 25th, 2009 at 4:20 am
[...] However, it is only humane to deploy EGB to improve lesser beverages better. Such that bottle of Russian Standard Imperia stashed in the executive toilet’s cistern (supposedly for emergency purposes [...]
June 15th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Amazing Vodka – my local Trader Joes has it in 1.75 liters for $29.99. Great price considering that works out to $12.85 per 750 ml!! Go get some if you can.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:11 am
Imperia Vodka – 10$ for 750ml.
Just bought one the other day.