|
|
St. Vladimir, Grand Duke of Kiev, is quoted as saying, "Drinking is Russia's delight."
1174
The Vyatka Chronicle reports the existence of "a vodka distillery" at Khylnovsk, over 500 miles to the east of Moscow.
1448
Russian distillers discover that the grain used for bread can also be used to produce spirit. The new use of grain produces a unique "bread wine" destined to become Russia's national product.
1470s
Production of alcoholic drinks reaches their highest levels ever. The treasury's interest in this new revenue potential prompts Tsar Ivan III to introduce the first-ever monopoly on the production and sale of grain-based wines, including vodka.
1505
According to chronicles of the day, vodka is first exported to Sweden, the lands of the Livonian Order and the future state of Estonia.
1533
Tsar Ivan IV builds the first kabak—or Tsar's tavern, as they came to be known—for his palace guard. At this time, the vodka trade was concentrated in the hands of the Tsar's administration, with sales to individuals allowed only in the Tsar's taverns.
1540s
The appearance of the word vodka in the annals of Novgorod is the first recognition of vodka as the name given to a medicine. Prior to that Russia's national drink did not have an official name. It was known as "hot wine", "bread wine", "korchma", "green wine" and many other names.
1716
Peter the Great, grandson of Michael Romanov and the first Emperor of all Russia, offers the aristocracy and merchants the exclusive right to produce vodka.
1812
Following years of deregulation, and with vodka production in the hands of some 5,000 private distillers, the government imposes a state monopoly on the industry.
1894
For the first time in history the Russian government decides to put vodka on a scientific footing. It commissions Dmitri Mendeleev, Professor of Chemistry at St. Petersburg University and founder of the Periodic Table of Elements, to conduct revolutionary research into the correlation between alcohol and water present in vodka. He finds that, from the point of view of its organic assimilation, the finest strength of vodka to be 40% by volume, or 80 proof. Mendeleev's recipe is adopted by the government as the absolute standard for Russian vodka.
1924
After a brief ban on vodka, the first Soviet monopoly resumes the spirit's production according to Mendeleev's recipe. As the production of vodka steadily expands, new technologies improve its quality, recipes become unified and varieties increase.
