elit™ by Stoli Raises the Bar for Vodka

By Ann Binlot December 20, 2014

elit stoli redefines vodka stoliwithbox open650 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Vodka enthusiasts — there’s a new vodka in town sure to get you excited. The makers of Stolichnaya have come up with a new line of vodka called elit™ by Stoli. The vodka makers took a similar approach to how terroir influences the notes in wine, instead exploring the way different water sources affect the way the vodka tastes. For each limited edition, Stoli’s master craftsmen searched the world for the most pristine water sources.

For the latest one, the Andean edition, they went to the Andes Mountains in South America, where, according to a release, “they trekked to the crystal clear waters of Colico Lake in the La Araucanía Region of Chile, to a natural spring flowing from the foothills of the Andes Mountains.”

“To craft a truly exemplary vodka, one with subtle taste and extraordinary clarity, you must begin with water, the purest of all elements,” said Lori Tieszen, chief marketing officer – Stoli Group USA. “Our quest lead us to the crystal waters of Colico Lake, where the unique balance of minerals ensured the third and final edition in our elit™ pristine water series, would emphasize elit™ by Stolichnaya®’s heritage of unrivalled taste and craftsmanship.”

After the water is sourced, it gets fused with Russian Alpha Spirit at the Latvijas Balzams distillery in Latvia, and then bottled in a bottle by Glencairn® Crystal, and then packaged in a Chilean Black Cherry wood case that is lined with leather and embellished with an indigenous pattern local to Colico Lake. Unfortunately the The elit™ pristine water series doesn’t come cheap; a bottle will set you back $3,495 — but there is always the basic elit™ by Stoli, which at under $100 is a lot more affordable.

For more information, visit elitbystoli.com.

Editors' Recommendations

Reyka Vodka Announces the World’s First Glacier Bar in Iceland

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ann Binlot is a New York-based freelance writer who contributes to publications like The Economist, Wallpaper*, Monocle…

Food & Drink

The 10 best rosé wines that everyone should drink

It's time to finally try rosé

Rose wine glasses

Rosé rules -- no ifs, ands, or buts. You’ve most definitely seen dudes drinking rosé, with the pink wine sold in forties. Chances are, you’ve heard the term “brosé” at least once or twice in your life. Heck, people are cooking with rosé. Can you believe that? It's a sweet wine worth talking about.

All this talk about the drink prompted us to go on a quest to find the most exceptional ones this rosé season. With plenty of great options in the market, we chose to narrow down our list to these best rosé wines for your next hot date, guys' night, or solo Netflix binge. Still reluctant to try this magical wine? We listed seven reasons why you should start drinking rosé.
Best rosé wines

Food & Drink

How to start your own home bar: the essential spirits

Home Bar

When you start getting into cocktails, drinking them is only half the fun -- making them is part of the appeal too. If you start making your own drinks at home, you'll soon find that you can often create better or more interesting drinks than what you're served in most bars. And even better, making drinks for other people is a great way to try out new combinations, learn about spirits, and make your friends and family happy too.

However, moving beyond the simple spirit plus mixer style of drinks which most people make at home and into the world of cocktails means that you'll need a wider array of spirits on hand than you might be used to. It can take some time and research to build up a well stocked bar, and choosing high quality spirits isn't a cheap endeavor. It's worth it, though, for the pleasure of being able to try out classic cocktail recipes and experiment with making up your own creations too.

Food & Drink

You’re overlooking the most important ingredient in your cocktail

Steel Hibiscus cocktail.

When you list off the most important parts of making a good cocktail your mind likely goes immediately to good ingredients: quality spirits, freshly squeezed citrus juices, and well-matched mixers. You might also consider the importance of using the right tools, like getting a proper mixing glass so your stirred drinks can be properly incorporated, or a good strainer so that there aren't little shards of ice in your cocktails. And then there are the fun additions like elaborate garnishes, bitters, or home-made syrups which can add a personal touch to your drinks.
All of those things are important, absolutely. However I think there's one ingredient that can make or break a good cocktail, and it's something many drinkers don't ever stop to consider. It's the humble but vital ingredient of ice.

Why ice is so important
In mixed drinks like a gin and tonic or a screwdriver, ice is added to the drink primarily to chill it down to a pleasing temperature. That's a topic we'll come back to. But in cocktails which are shaken or stirred, ice is far more important than that. Cocktails are typically composed of between around 20 to 30 percent water, and this water comes from the ice used in the preparation process.
When you stir ingredients in a mixing glass or shake them in a shaker with ice, you are chipping away small pieces of the ice so that it dissolves and blends with your other ingredients. You might imagine that water doesn't make much of a difference to taste, being tasteless itself. But it's vital in opening up the flavors of other ingredients. That's why many whiskey drinkers like to add a dash of water to their whiskey when they drink it neat.
If you're ever in doubt of how important water is to cocktails, it's worth trying to make a drink with no ice. Even if you mix up the ideal ratios for a drink that you love and put it into the freezer so that it gets to the chilled temperature that you usually enjoy it at, if you sip it you'll find that your drink tastes harsh, unbalanced, and incomplete. Even for special room temperature cocktails like those designed to be drunk from a flask, you'll generally find water being added at a rate of around 30%.
When you make your cocktails you should be sure to stir for a long time – around 30 seconds is a good start – or to shake for a good while too – I typically do around 12 to 15 seconds – in order to melt enough ice to get plenty of water into your cocktail. Despite what you might imagine, this won't make the cocktail taste watery but will rather make the flavors stand out more as well as often improving the mouthfeel of the drink. A good rule of thumb is to mix or shake until the vessel is cold to the touch. That means your ingredients are sufficiently incorporated with the ice.