Elite Vodka Premium Vodka 70 cl 40%

The neck is frosted, as though the bottle had just come out of the freezer. That is no accident. The whole elit design points back at the one step that separates it from the rest of the Stolichnaya family: the cold.

Expert description

Elit Vodka is a Latvian Vodka from Stoli Group, distilled from wheat and bottled at 40%.

The foundation is an alpha grade spirit. That is not a marketing word but an official classification with limits on aldehydes, fusel oils and methanol that sit far above what ordinary neutral alcohol has to meet. The wheat is distilled three times before the spirit is even allowed to claim the label.

It is then cut with artesian water from a borehole roughly 200 metres beneath Latvijas Balzams in Riga, and after that comes the step everything else is built around. The vodka is chilled to minus 18 degrees and drawn at a crawl through ion charged filters. The cold makes the heavier compounds sluggish enough to be caught, and the spirit then rests before bottling.

What you get out of it shows most clearly when the glass is cold. There is no sharp edge, no burn in the nose and a mouthfeel that verges on oily. In return, this is not a vodka with a great deal to say aromatically — the point is purity and texture rather than a long list of notes.

Tasting notes

Nose

Very restrained. A pale grain character, a little white bread and a hint of fresh almond if you give it time.

Palate

Soft and full with an oily sensation across the tongue. Sweetness is low, and a light mineral tone runs underneath it all.

Finish

Short, clean and cool. Nothing lingers, and that is exactly the intention.

Specifications

Name: Elit Vodka
Producer: Stoli Group
Region/Country: Riga, Latvia
Type: Latvian Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Triple distilled and freeze filtered at minus 18 degrees
Serving suggestion: Straight from the freezer into a cool glass, or as the base of a Vodka Martini without too much vermouth.

Flavour profile

Clean · Oily · Neutral · Cool

Did you know?

The name is deliberately written with a lower case letter. The house calls it elit rather than Elit, and the small e runs across the label, the box and every piece of material — a detail that regularly makes people assume a typing error has crept in.

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Frequently asked questions about Elit Vodka

What separates elit from ordinary Stolichnaya?

The freeze filtration and the raw material requirement. Elit is built on alpha grade spirit and is chilled to minus 18 degrees before filtering — a step the other vodkas in the house do not go through. The result is a noticeably thicker texture and almost no burn.

What does alpha grade spirit mean?

It is the strictest classification for neutral alcohol. There are ceilings for aldehydes, fusel oils and methanol, and they sit markedly lower than for standard neutral spirit. Only distillates that pass the measurements may call themselves alpha.

Should the bottle live in the freezer?

That is what it was built for. At freezer temperature the texture thickens noticeably and the rest of the bottle takes no harm. If you want to study the grain character instead, let a small glass sit on the table for five minutes first.

Can you really taste a difference between vodkas?

Yes, though the difference lies mostly in texture and finish. Set two glasses side by side at the same temperature and you will feel how much fuller elit is in the mouth and how briefly and cleanly it lets go. The aroma, by contrast, is kept deliberately quiet.

What food does it suit?

Anything salty and cold. Raw or lightly salted fish, roe, pickled cucumber and rye bread with plenty of fat all sit well against the cold, dry profile. A small sip between bites clears the mouth rather than settling on top of the food.

Which cocktails does it suit?

The clean and cold ones. A Vodka Martini with a touch of vermouth, a Vesper or a Vodka Gimlet all let the texture speak. If it is going into something sweet or creamy, there are better picks in our range of Vodka.

Who owns elit today?

Stoli Group, established in 2013 to handle production and distribution of SPI Group's spirits portfolio. Alongside elit that covers the Stolichnaya range and a series of other brands, all of them blended and bottled in Riga.