Stolichnaya is a Russian vodka owned by the SPI Group, which is the largest exporter of Russian vodka. Stolichnaya, or Stoli for short, is produced from Russian wheat and rye grains. It’s distilled four times and filtered using quartz and activated charcoal filtration. Stolichnaya received a double gold medal and was named best vodka at the 2005 San Francisco Spirit Competition.

When you taste Stolichnaya, you know you’re drinking hard alcohol. The tester’s description of Stoli ranged from “bold” to “nasty” but in all cases it made an impression. Stolichnaya is very noticeable going down and it has a strong aftertaste that lingers for quite a while. Stoli is a premium vodka that tastes much more like a vodka that you’d find in the well.