What? That vodka isn't really from Russia? Here's where the liquor actually comes from
If you want to say nyet to vodka to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine, your liver may thank you.
But the people of Ukraine probably won't be impressed (if they even had time to pay attention to your gesture, which, of course, they do not).
That's because most vodka sold in Memphis and around the U.S. is actually distilled domestically or in Europe, so boycotting vodka is an arguably off-target symbolic response.
What's more, some vodka found in Memphis originates in Ukraine.
"One of our best-sellers just happens to be a Ukrainian vodka," said Sisco Larson, general manager of Joe's Wines & Liquor at 1681 Poplar.
That brand — which Larson called "one of the top vodkas in the world, though not as much yet in the U.S." — is Khor Short for Khortytsa, this "elite gourmet-class vodka" (to quote the Khor website) was available at all the liquor stores contacted Monday by The Commercial Appeal.
Meanwhile, some of the most familiar vodka brands, such as Stoli (short for Stolichnaya) and Smirnoff, are Russian in origin but are no longer produced there.
"There's not a whole lot to boycott because we just don't have a lot of true Russian stuff available," Larson said. "A lot of brands use the Russian esthetic" in their names and label designs, "so people think they're Russian, but they haven't been for decades."
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Bill Boywid, senior store manager at Buster's Liquors & Wines at 191 S. Highland, said the store typically carries only one authentically Russian brand of vodka, called Russian Standard. He said Buster's "had about a half-dozen bottles left, and per owners' instructions, we removed them from the shelf."
He said Russian Standard in recent months had been hard to stock, anyway, due to the supply-chain disruptions caused by the international COVID pandemic.
According to a CNN report based on data from the International Wine and Spirits Record, a global firm that tracks alcohol sales, less than 1% of vodka "consumed in the United States is produced in Russia."
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"In fact, more than half of all vodka consumed domestically is actually made here," CNN reported. The news network added that vodka from Russia is down 79% since 2011.
The Stolichnaya sold in the U.S. is distilled in Latvia (once part of the Soviet Union); the company is headquartered in Luxembourg, a NATO-member nation.
The Smirnoff brand, meanwhile, is owned by London-based Diageo, a multinational beverage company. Smirnoff in the U.S. is distilled in Plainfield, Illinois.
Vodka brands that are less identified with Russia also are not made there. SKYY vodka is produced in the U.S. by Campari America, while Absolut traces its origins to Sweden.
Although eager to flaunt their Russian heritage as evidence of their quality and authenticity, the classic vodka brands now are working to distance themselves from the politics of the Putin administration. A visitor to the Stoli website is greeted with this assertion: "Stoli Group stands for peace in Europe and in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. #LiberateUkraine."
The Smirnoff website, meanwhile, boast this declaration: "PROUDLY MADE IN AMERICA. Smirnoff for THE PEOPLE."