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| Image: Poluga for Hot Rum Cow |
Vodka is merely a
pretender to Polugar’s throne. Controversial perhaps, but Boris Rodionov makes a strong case for Russia’s forgotten drink claiming the title of Russia’s
national drink
It was supped by European kings and queens in the time of Ivan the Terrible, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Peter the Great. It was cherished and distilled by Russia’s nobility and loved by their loyal subjects. But when column stills were introduced to Russia in the late 19th century, along with a state monopoly on booze, Polugar was exiled, condemned to a life of obscurity and banished to the history books.
But gradually Polugar’s fortunes are changing as vodka historian, writer and Polugar distiller, Boris Rodionov, endeavours to restore the drink to its former glory. A task not without its challenges in a country where vodka reigns supreme.
Amid rumours of fake alcohol being sold in shops and the health scare that ensued just over a decade ago, Rodionov turned his hand to distilling vodka at home. Like most Russians, he considered vodka his national drink, but was dismayed when he could not produce an impurity-free spirit using his small copper pot still. He realised only column stills would give him pure vodka, but this was impractical as they are such complex works of engineering.
“Column stills only appeared in Russia in the 1880s. It means that theoretically vodka could not exist in Russia before the end of the 19th century,” explains Rodionov. “If we take all strong national beverages in the world, they are all different but they have two unifying features. They all have a long history and any member of the nation can make his national drink at home. Vodka does not meet either of these criteria, as it is only a little over a hundred years old, and nobody can make a pure spirit, and therefore vodka, at home.”
A former scientist and director of a technical engineering company, Rodionov began studying the history of vodka to understand what Russians drank prior to the 1880s, and how they came to drink ‘modern vodka’.
This was a feature I wrote for Issue 5 of the awards-winning drinks magazine, Hot Rum Cow. To read the rest of the feature, please visit www.hotrumcow.co.uk/russian-polugar-vs-vodka/.
