only slightly better than the original
This is a review of Stolichnaya Elit vodka from Latvia. I sampled it in Germany in 2012. It’s clear, 40% alcohol, and I thought it was overpriced.
This one is Stolichnaya Elit (Столичная Đлит) vodka. It’s important to note that it belongs to the international version of Stolichnaya, the one that is being produced by SPI Group in Latvia. The Russian Soyuzplodoimport that produces their own Stolichnaya there doesn’t have an Elit edition as far as I know.
With that being said, I’m a big fan of the international Stoli. Maybe that’s why I was expecting miracles from this one, with it being so expensive and all.
the birth of a new brand
It’s October 2021, and I was a bit confused at first. There didn’t seem to be a mention of Stolichnaya Elit on the stoli.com website. So I looked up the term online, and all that came up was a page on the German stolichnaya.de website:
So that meant it was still there, at least in Germany. I went back to the international Stoli site and looked around a bit more, and then I noticed it, all the way in the bottom left corner:
Stolichnaya Elit had its own website at elitvodka.com now, and apparently it didn’t want to be called Stolichnaya Elit anymore, either:
It was just Elit now. The bottle design had changed a bit, and the Stolichnaya brand name had disappeared. It seemed as though the goal was to establish Elit as an independent-looking luxury brand like Imperia. Had the German market not yet caught up with this development?
Anyway the site looked pretty nice, but it seemed a bit void. There were a few cocktail recipes. And they made a big point of Elit going through FREEZE FILTRATION:
All of this left me wondering if I should refer to the vodka I am reviewing here as Stolichnaya Elit or simply as Elit. In the end I chose the former because at the time of my review it was still called Stolichnaya Elit.
why spend this much
There has got to be a special occasion that justifies buying an expensive vodka like this one. At least that’s the way it is for me.
I would always rather spend my money on other things and settle for a bottle of great vodka at a reasonable price, say a Russian Standard or an Istanblue – or a regular Stolichnaya. It just doesn’t seem to make much sense to fork out a lot more money for something that probably won’t taste that much better.
But when there’s something to celebrate, then who cares, right?
Stolichnaya Elit rocks
I wasn’t surprised to find out that this was some damn good vodka. Stolichnaya Elit tastes as smooth as you would expect it to taste. Actually, you could even be overly critical and say it’s a bit too smooth. The aftertaste was perfect as well – so rich and aromatic.
I thought the bottle design with the heavy cap was cool, only the price tag of about 46€ for 700ml was a bit too out of this world for my taste. I mean, it’s even a tad more expensive than Kauffman or Crystal Head ffs.
worth it?
Here’s the question though: I’m still not sure if this was noticeably better than the regular Stoli. Apart from the bottle design of course. And even if it did indeed taste a tiny bit better, it doesn’t seem to make it worth shelving out three times as much money for it.
All in all, Stolichnaya Elit is overpriced. It works well as a gift. But that’s it.