Vodka, of course. But what type of vodka did they drink during the time of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Dostoevsky, Chekhov or Pushkin? It was very different from the vodka you are familiar with today. Back then distillation (rectification) columns had not been invented and ethyl alcohol was not used as it is today. Back then vodka was called breadwine and was distilled in copper pot stills
just like single malt whiskey. Polugar is the real legendary Russian breadwine, restored using all of the traditional technologies and recipes from the 18th and 19th centuries. It is "father" of Russian vodka and has not been produced over the past 115 years. Thanks to a recipe found in a book from the 18th century by the well-known Russian vodka historian, academic and writer, Boris Rodionov, you have the chance to try the drink of the Russian noblemen which was enjoyed in Russia 250 years ago. The word Polugar means half-burned breadwine. Back when alcohol meters had not yet been invented and they needed to determine the strength and, accordingly, the price of a drink, they would use the following test - boil and burn two portions of the drink and, after burning, one portion of water should be left. In other words, the drink was half burned off, which is why it got the name "Polugar" (from the Russian for "half-burned"). Polugar is bottled in the finest glass bottle, which is a reconstructed copy of the Queen Elizabeth personal stoff-bottle dated 1745, located in the Russian National Museum.
