 Bottles of Stolichnaya vodka | |
| Type | Vodka |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer |
|
| Distributor |
|
| Origin | Russia |
| Introduced | 1901; 125 years ago (1901) |
| Alcohol by volume | 40% |
| Proof (US) | 80 |
| Variants | Stolichnaya Elit Stolichnaya Flavoured Premium vodka |
| Related products | List of vodkas |
| Website | |
Stolichnaya (Russian:Столичная) is avodka made ofwheat andrye grain. It originated in theSoviet Union in 1938. There are two versions of the vodka: the version found outside Russia is made in Latvia, while the version found inside Russia is made there. With thedissolution of the Soviet Union the ownership of Stolichnaya has been disputed between the Russianstate-owned company FKPSoyuzplodoimport and SPI Group, a private company chartered inLuxembourg. SPI Group have sold their version asStoli since 2022.
The nameStolichnaya is pronounced in Russian[stɐˈlʲit͡ɕnajə].[2] The word is the adjectival form ofстолица (stolitsa), meaning "capital city".[3] The Soyuzplodoimport bottle label features the words "Stolichnaya Vodka" in goldcursive script over a drawing of aMoscow landmark, the recently rebuiltHotel Moskva.[4]
In March 2022 the Stoli Group changed the name of its vodka to its nickname,Stoli, as a "direct response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine".[5]
As of 2007fermentation of Stolichnaya starts with Russian winter wheat and rye grains and pure glacier water and takes about 60 hours. Once fermentation is complete, the resulting liquid isdistilled four times, to a strength of 96.4%alcohol by volume (ABV). That spirit is diluted to bottling strength using more glacier water. It is then filtered throughquartz sand andactivated carbon and, finally, through woven cloth.[6][needs update]
SPI, the company controlled byYuri Shefler, produces Stolichnaya inLatvia atLatvijas Balzams, using Latvian water but alcohol from a distillery inTambov, Russia.[7] In response to theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, SPI announced that they would begin sourcing all of their alcohol fromSlovakia instead of Russia.[8]
Stolichnaya has its origins in theMoscow State Wine Warehouse No. 1 which was opened in 1901 by the authorities to ensure higher quality vodka production.[6]
There is confusion about the actual birth date of Stolichnaya vodka. The earliest confirmed production date is 1948, but the label design clearly predates 1946.[9][full citation needed] It is likely that it was created by V. G. Svirida around 1944.[10] However, there is a trademark registration dated 1938, which is sometimes quoted as another birth date.[11]
In 1953, Stolichnaya was introduced at the international trade show in Bern and received a gold medal.[9] Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the product was made at a distillery inLviv, Ukraine, for export, and the distillery, in the early 1990s, had a joint venture established with theEdgar M. Bronfman associated firmSeagram.[12]
In 1972, thePepsiCo company[a][b] struck a barter agreement with thegovernment of the Soviet Union, in which PepsiCo was granted exportation and Western marketing rights to Soviet alcohol, namely, Stolichnaya vodka andNazdorovya champagne fromAbrau-Durso,[17][18] in exchange for importation and Soviet marketing ofPepsi-Cola.[19][20][c][d] This was the first cooperation of food production between the United States and the USSR duringdétente which began on 1 June 1972 afterRichard Nixon returned from a summit in Moscow in late May 1972.[23] This exchange led to Pepsi-Cola being the first American consumer product to be produced, marketed and sold in the USSR.[24][e] Directly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Stolichnaya vodka continued to be produced for export in several of thepost-Soviet states, includingUkraine.[12] The bottles retained their Soviet-era labels.
During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, steps were taken to transform state-owned Stolichnaya producer VO Sojuzplodoimport (later VVO Sojuzplodoimport) into aprivately held company.[27] Since the early 90s, the personnel of the vodka factory and control of the trademarks had been managed by VAO Sojuzplodoimport (later: VZAO Sojuzplodoimport). In 1997 they were transferred to ZAO Sojuzplodimport which, in turn, sold them to the SPI (Spirits) group in 1999.[27]
The SPI Group is a private company chartered in Luxembourg, founded and owned by Russian billionaireYuri Shefler, that distributes a wide variety of Russian spirits, having purchased a number of former Soviet brands and operations. Stoli Group USA is a unit of SPI Group that markets Stoli vodka.[28] While FKP produces inKaliningrad, Russia (for the Russian market and theBenelux market), SPI Group distributes and produces fromLatvia. FKP Sojuzplodoimport and the SPI Group have been in dispute over the ownership of various trademarks since 2003.[29]
Since 2003, after thedissolution of the Soviet Union, the Stolichnaya trademark has been the subject of dispute between distributors, predominantly the SPI Group and Russian state-owned Sojuzplodoimport.[30] The SPI group has held the rights from the legal successor as a result of a privatisation, while the Russian government holds that theprivatisation has never been fully effected.
In August 1991, the Sovietpatent office revoked the Soviet state-owned company's right to use the Stolichnaya name in Russia.[31] However, in 2002, aMoscow court ruled, onappeal, that as a result of the incomplete privatisation, the Russian government should get back the rights to the Stolichnaya brand name from SPI Group since SPI had not obtained the rights from the legal holder.[32] An appeal by SPI to theEuropean Court of Human Rights was rejected.[33]
In 2014, theOberlandesgericht (OGL, "higher regional court") ofLinz decided that FKP could not base its request on the nullity of the privatization/transformation, as that possibility had a term of limitation of 10 years according to the applicablelaw in Russia (if the term of limitation defense had been actively relied upon), and thus FKP could not claim that SPI had not obtained the trademarks from the owner.[34]
In 2020, the AustrianOberste Gerichtshof (OGH, "Supreme Court of Justice") – the highest civil court in Austria – upheld the 2014 decision. SPI has therefore exhausted all options in the Austrian justice system.[35]
In theBenelux countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands), SPI has been the distributor, but use of the trademarks was challenged in 2006 by the FKP Sojuzplodoimport. In 2015 aDutch court held that, according to Russian andSoviet law (and a term of limitation had not been invoked regarding the transfer), the privatisation had not taken place, and that Benelux law and (when provisions were insufficient) Dutch law applied to the transfer of the trademarks. the court ruled that SPI had obtained the trademarks inbad faith from an entity that wasn't the legitimate owner. The trademarks should be transferred back to FKP Sojuzplodoimport and SPI could not use the term "Russian" on its vodka.[36]
After the verdict, SPI stopped distribution of Stolichnaya and started selling "Stoli" with the motto "Same Vodka. Different label". That was forbidden by a Dutch judge in July 2015, on the grounds that it infringed the rights of FKP Sojuzplodoimport.[37] FKP Sojuzplodoimport planned to start selling Stolichnaya in the Netherlands on 1 September 2015.[38]
The Benelux trademarks were seized in March 2024 to enforce a$50 billion arbitration claim by former shareholders of the oil companyYukos against the Russian Federation.[39]
SPI Group holds the rights to several Stolichnayatrademarks in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Spain, Cyprus, Poland, Norway and Iceland. In a lawsuit before the Court of The Hague, FKP Sojuzplodoimport sought an order to have the trademarks returned to it from several SPI companies. The Hague court assumed jurisdiction based on twoBrussels Regime instruments: Brussels Regulation 44/2001 (for theEU countries) and the2007 Lugano Convention (Norway, Iceland). It ruled that, because the dispute did not relate to trademark validity (for which national courts have jurisdiction) but to trademark registration, it did have jurisdiction, because a main defendant was located in the Netherlands. To evaluate the validity of the trademarks, it would use the national law of the trademarks concerned.[40]
PepsiCo had been the distributor of Stolichnaya based on an agreement with the Soviet government. The change in control of the trademarks and production facilities led to several lawsuits over which company could market vodka under the Stolichnaya name in the United States. On November 20, 1992, aUS federal judge ruled that PepsiCo could maintain the exclusive right to the name in the United States, because allowing others to market under the name would bring a "risk of irreparable harm" to the trademark.[31]
In 2009William Grant & Sons signed an agreement with SPI Group to distribute Stolichnaya in the United States, taking over from PepsiCo. The William Grant & Sons distribution contract expired on December 31, 2013, and was not renewed, due to the desire of the SPI Group to manage its brand directly.[41]
In 2006 FKP Sojuzplodoimport brought an action against the owner of the mark Spirits International N.V., et al. in 2005.[clarification needed] Thedistrict court dismissed almost all claims on a motion to dismiss, holding that the incontestable status of the registration meant that FKP Sojuzplodoimport couldn't challenge ownership. However, in 2009, theCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned that decision, stating that FKP Sojuzplodoimport could challenge the validity of the assignment of the trademark.[42]
In 2011, after examining the grant given to FKP Sojuzplodoimport by the Russian government, the district court held, and the appeals court affirmed in 2013, that the Russian government had not transferred full ownership of the marks to FKP Sojuzplodoimport, so FKP Sojuzplodoimport wasn't the registrant of the mark. Since FKP Sojuzplodoimport had dismissed all claims except for infringement of a registered mark, it did not havestanding and the case was dismissed.[43]
FKP Sojuzplodoimport and the Russian government then signed a new document that assigned the trademarks to FKP Sojuzplodoimport in every way possible, and FKP Sojuzplodoimport filed a new lawsuit against Spirits International N.V. In 2014 the district court heard testimony from experts on Russian law and reached the conclusion that, under Russian law, FKP Sojuzplodoimport could only manage property, not own it and, therefore, FKP Sojuzplodoimport did not have standing.[44] However, in 2016, that decision was vacated by theCourt of Appeals and the case went back to the district court.[45]
On December 2, 2024, Stoli Group USA announced that they had filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing slowing demand for spirits, a cyberattack, and conflicts with Russia in court.[28] On January 15, 2026, Stoli Group USA converted their Chapter 11 case to aChapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation after their bankruptcy plan was rejected by a bankruptcy judge.[46]
Stolichnaya is available in many varieties, including:[47]
Several of these offerings have performed well at internationalspirits ratings competitions. For example, the Elit label was awarded a silver medal at the 2011San Francisco World Spirits Competition.[48]
Stolichnaya's chief rivalRussian Standard questioned the SPI-produced Stolichnaya's Russian authenticity, because it is bottled in Latvia, not Russia. Stolichnaya's global distributorPernod Ricard responded by insisting that it is an authentic Russian vodka, because nothing is added or removed during the bottling.[49]
InEminem's 2010music video for "Love the Way You Lie", Stolichnaya vodka was included in several scenes. Theproduct placement began with actorDominic Monaghanshoplifting a bottle of the vodka, after which he and actressMegan Fox drank from it on the roof of theliquor store.[50]
Stolichnaya also advertises heavily during televisedNew York Yankees games, using digital banners behind home plate.[51]
Roger Sterling, a main character in the American television seriesMad Men, is also a fan of Stolichnaya, keeping a bottle in his office at all times.[52] Sterling had the Stolichnaya sent from Greece.[53]
The product has also been mentioned multiple times in the Netflix seriesStranger Things.[54]
In July 2013 columnistDan Savage joinedgay bars and clubs in calling for aboycott of Stolichnaya and other Russian vodkas. The boycott was in response toanti-gay laws enacted by the Russian government.[55][56]
In response, SPI, which has rights to the brand outside of Russia and produces it on its own separate from Russian FKP Stolichnaya, released a statement expressing their opposition to Russia's anti-gay policies, stating that, "Stolichnaya Vodka has always been, and continues to be, a fervent supporter and friend to theLGBT community."[57][58]
SPI announced that the company would be making a donation to a group working on behalf of RussianLGBT activists.[59] Company CEO Val Mendeleev also insisted that the company is "not a Russian company", whilst acknowledging that at the time the company operates a distillery in Russia.[59]
Vodkas by country | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia |
| ||||||||
| Europe |
| ||||||||
| North America |
| ||||||||
