Not Your Parents' Russian Vodka

If a shot of Georgi isn’t your style, Russian vodka makers are rushing to sell a new wave of premium bottles, the Los Angeles Times reports. Vodkas from France, Finland, and the US have gained popularity stateside over the past few years, but buyers couldn't find anything Russian other than Stoli on the shelves until recently.

The new imports—35 brands and counting—come with a host of gimmicks to woo drinkers from their Grey Goose: topaz and opal filters, or storage tanks made of gold so the vodka can (as makers claim) “gain nobility.” One brand even sells a $1,200 bottle resembling a Faberge egg. This marketing blitz isn’t a stab in the dark; interest in vodka the Russian way, straight up and cold, is rising in the US. (More vodka stories.)