Classic Rye Polugar is the result of laborious work of professionals using the traditional Russian technology of triple distillation of select rye in original replicated copper stills (alembics), purified with fresh egg white and birch coal. Such labour-intensive historical technology is not used by any modern producer of elite alcoholic beverages.Polugar Classic Rye is another expression of legendary Russian bread wine brought back to life using the traditional recipes and distillation methods from the 18th and 19th centuries. Classic Rye Polugar is produced using select coarse-milled rye and natural water that is not chemically purified.Nose: Fresh, bright and bready. Comforting aroma of home-baked goods, rye crust, rye bread, dill, caraway and pickling spices. Tones of thick malt, buckwheat honey, freshly baked bread, grains, fresh grasses, and wildflowers.Palate: Warming, soft taste of rye bread, slightly sweet with notes of honey and spice. A slightly grassy bitterness.Finish: Prolonged and warming, with bright notes of rye bread, salt and pepper hints, hazelnuts, almonds and honey with light botanical bitterness.Polugar is a more ancient type of spirit. It is quite different from modern vodka, rather more akin to legendary Russian bread wine, the noble father of vodka. It is said that the first Moscow tavern allowed to serve distilled liquor in Russia was exclusively reserved for the oprichniki, Ivan the Terrible’s secret police. Throughout Russian history, vodka was similar to whiskey; the smell and flavor reminiscent of freshly baked bread, heavily exhibiting the grains used to make it, and was known as bread wine.In 1895 Tsar Alexander III decreed to have all pot stills in Russia broken down. Subsequently, distillation processes were restricted to government licensed and taxed column stills, establishing the method for producing the crystalline, less nuanced spirit that we now know as vodka today.The Rodionov family spearheaded a movement to restore the traditional grain spirits enjoyed during the golden age of Russia. Boris Rodionov, a renowned academic and vodka historian, discovered the original recipe for the national bread wine spirit. With legislation forbidding the Polugar style of grain distillation in Russia, the Rodionov family restored an old distillery tucked away in a forest in Poland to reestablish the glory of the legendary spirit.Each Polugar selection is produced in accordance with an authentic recipe from the 18th century, using carefully selected grains and naturally pure water.
