Bitter tinctures with a strength of up to 30 grams. (25-28 gr.). By themselves bitter strong liqueurs or colored vodkas were not new - they have been known since ancient times. Sold "Pertsovaya", "Starka", "St. John's wort", "Zubrovka", "Kuban amateur", "Gorny Dubnyak" and others with a fortress of 40 grams. "Pepper" was considered an indispensable remedy for colds, and "St. John's wort" - for indigestion. Exotic were "Spotykach" and "Casserole", as well as Hungarian-made Slivovitsa. I even remember the slogan that hung on the wall of one medical facility:

To get out of a hospital bed -
Drink healing tinctures!

Once in Tselinograd I had to drink "Zubrovka" - it was great to put it on the horns. It was customary to take these vodkas for fishing, hunting, and under the ear with the smoke of a fire, they went well. They say that Leonid Ilyich respected "Zubrovka" while hunting.

In 1970, as a result of an increase in prices for wine and vodka products, the price for them increased to the commemorative mark of 3.62, and until 1973, forty-degree strong bitters coexisted with low-degree ones. But the latter quickly drove them out and off they went: "Ginger", "Stepnaya" ("Ukrainian Stepnaya"), "Pomerantsevaya", "Kalganovaya", "Field", "Kubanskaya", "Lemon", etc. - all at 2.50 for a bottle of 0.5 liters. But the unforgettable Streletskaya Gorkaya tincture, which immediately received the apt name "Stervetskaya", became the leader. Accordingly, the state of a hangover after drinking it began to be called "The Morning of the Strelets' Execution". On a label commemorating the people, a sagittarius with a reed was colorfully depicted. This drawing was interpreted as "A soldier with a gun", "A man with an oar", "A man with a hoe" and "A man with an ax." All these tinctures had pronounced emetic properties and cleansed the intestines well. Their taste was the most nasty, and the breath from a hangover was such that to determine its condition, the verbal formula was used - "in the mouth - like a mare nasal."

They drank this filth, like the vodara, for three, but of course, the matter was not limited to one bottle. Therefore, drinking them in the alleyway or on a bench in the park was not out of hand. The tradition of free drinking in the fresh air, characteristic of the 60s, began to disappear. Booze began to move to various catering establishments - cafeterias, cafes, canteens and other eateries - "glass". In other localities of the USSR, "Pelmennye", "Sandwich", "Snack", "Sausage", "Cheburechnye", "Shashlik", etc. also flourished. Let me remind you that under Khrushchev in 1958, in most catering establishments there was prohibited. In other words, in order to drink one hundred and fifty grams, it was necessary to take half a liter for two and urgently look for a third. In this regard, a conditional, almost Masonic, sign appeared in the form of two fingers on the cuff of a jacket and a password pronounced in a feverish whisper: "Hey, sidekick, will you be Shepilov?" (from the wording of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the defeat of the anti-party grouping consisting of Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich and Shepilov who joined them; before the disgrace, D.T. Shepilov was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR -) .

We must remember another plague that swept over our people in the 70s and mowed them down on the spot.

Gardener's tear

The plague bore a completely innocent name - "fruit and berry wine". The very technology of this drink is well known, and, in principle, good wines can be made from fruits and berries. From time immemorial, home-made fruit and berry wines have been made in villages and suburbs from fruits and berries grown in private plots. And in the shops one could see wine with the name "Yablochnoe" ("Yablushne") and simply "Fruit and berry". They were not very popular. But after the removal of Khrushchev in the field of wine production, a course was taken for cheap consumer goods - "in more numbers - at a cheaper price." Small, primitive wineries grew like mushrooms in small towns and on collective and state farms. It became unprofitable to tinker with the production of high-quality wines. Therefore, using an accelerated technology (bad juice plus bad alcohol), they began to produce low-grade dregs, popularly called "fruit-profitable wine", from all shit. According to the specifics of the feedstock, it was also called "worm" or "rot", and according to organoleptic qualities- "ink" and "shmurdyak". The names varied in each region. So, in Siberia they produced "Sea buckthorn", and in central Russia "Chernoscurorodinovoe" - terrible drinks with a taste of rat feces. There were all-union leaders: Volzhskoe Strong (0.89 rubles) and Rubin (1.12 rubles). Very popular were "Alminskaya Valley" ("Alina", she is "Death Valley", "Golden Autumn" ("Zosia"), "Autumn Garden", "Aroma of Gardens", "Aroma to Stepu", "The Sun in a Glass" All of them were bottled at 0.5 liters and cost from 0.8 to 1.20 (an average of 1.02 rubles.) It was recommended to go to the toilet in the morning after taking on this rubbish in a gas mask. Some authors, new to the subject, summarize these creations under the rubric of “chatter.” This is a serious methodological error. and set out below.

"Fruit-profitable" wines were taken on the basis of a bottle on the nose (on the snout). They drank, as a rule, from the throat. They had a snack with processed cheese like "Druzhba", "Novost", etc. At the worst, they sniffed with the edge of the sleeve and a puff of "Prima", "Smoke" or the Bulgarian "Oral" (read "Opal").

A brief history of chatting

At the time of Khrushchev, there was a Hochma among the people: "Can all the leaders of the Soviet Union be named with the letter" T "?" "You can: Lenin is a titan, Stalin is a tyrant, Khrushchev and Bulganin are two tourists." Later, “three corpses” were added to them - Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko. Nikita Sergeevich loved to communicate with the leaders of countries that had freed themselves from the colonial yoke. Among his friends were Nehru, Sukarno, Kwame Nkrumah, Nasser and Ahmed Ben Bella - the head of Algeria. Algeria since 1830 to 1962 was a French colony. The French brought the wine culture to Algeria and the country became one of the world's largest wine producers. But after the declaration of independence, more than a million French left the country, which brought down the local market for wine consumption. Winemaking began to decline, but the scale of wine production was still great. France, on the other hand, boycotted Algerian wines. Nikita Sergeevich was a broad-minded person and loved to give his friends unexpected gifts. And he came to the aid of an Algerian friend. A contract was signed for the supply of Algerian wine to the USSR. Algeria also paid for the supply of military equipment with the supply of wine materials. From 1969 to 1975 alone, the USSR purchased 5 million hectoliters of Algerian wine. Subsequently, Ben Bella was overthrown and taken deep into the Sahara, where he was held in custody for many years, and then either poisoned, or strangled, or simply shot. Khrushchev was removed from all posts in 1964.However, the contract remained in effect until the start of the anti-alcohol campaign in 1985.

The first consignments of Algerian red table dry wine with inscriptions in Arabic and French appeared in Odessa in the late 60s. Odessans contemplated with amazement the appearance of this unprecedented drink, sealed with a lead stopper. In terms of color (dark purple) and price (0.92 rubles for 0.5 liters), these were obvious "ink" that they were afraid to try. But foreign origin, original design ... And curiosity prevailed. We tried and were convinced that it was impossible to drink this wild sour meat. The prestige of the French as a nation of fine wine connoisseurs has fallen sharply. The bottles were gathering dust on the shelves. Then they decided to put it in the bottle. In the 70s in Tselinograd "ink" began to be sold in the departments of "Juice-water" (in conical containers with taps) at a price of 16 kopecks. glass without time limit. But even inveterate drunks refused to drink "such rubbish so early" for a hangover. And then suddenly the Algerian began to slowly disappear. But then there was "Solntsedar", which became a symbol of the era.

The first acquaintance with this unique drink took place in the early 70s in Novosibirsk. I and another employee were sent from VNIIZern to the Novosibirsk Agricultural Institute for courses in computer technology. They settled us in the Academgorodok in the postgraduate hostel. We immediately met two graduate students and agreed for an evening about a feast according to the well-known parity principle of stagnant times: "girls - a snack, guys - a drink." For a drink we went to Novosibirsk through the woods on a trolleybus. We got to the first large "Gastronome", overstocked with vodka. Well, then an old Odessa gentleman woke up in me, and I insisted on buying wine "for the ladies", although in my heart I was sure that the ladies would prefer vodka. They began to look around the assortment, and saw absolutely new item... They asked for a bottle for external study. The label showed a green meadow surrounded by birches. The sun rises on the horizon, and on its powerful rays in Slavic script is written - "Solntsedar". A wonderful picture! The output parameters of the wine were also inspiring - "mine" 0.8 liters with a strength of 18 degrees. At the bottom it was written: “Strong red grape wine. OST 18-4-70 ". Therefore, overstocked and a novelty. In the evening they put it on the table and began to advertise. When we drank the vodka, it was decided to polish with "Solntsedar". Already when bottled, the smell of wine began to inspire some concern. The taste turned out to be completely unique - such shit had not yet been born in the Soviet country. I will keep silent about the results of drinking, because the "Soviet man" is obscene in drunkenness, and even in this situation.

Already working in Odessa, I was engaged in air purification from acrolein and other aldehydes. He worked closely with chemists and picked up some knowledge of industrial toxicology. On these issues, I somehow in the mid-70s was on a business trip in Leningrad at VNIIZhirov and lived in a hostel with a candidate chem. sciences, an employee of some Central Asian research institute of viticulture and winemaking. He told me about the history of the birth of "Solntsedar". After making sure that the Soviet people would not drink Algerian either on the bottle or in "bubbles", the relevant authorities involved science in solving the problem. The choice fell on Central Asia, which already had experience in the production of low-grade bindings of the "Pomir" type (it was written "Pomir", it read "Pomer"). We quickly developed a technology for the use of Algerian wine material. At the same time, the candidate of wine science reminded me that wines in which the fermentation process stops naturally when it reaches 23 ° are called strong. Wines, during the fermentation process of which alcohol is added to stop fermentation, are called fortified. In normal wine, self-respecting winemakers never add sugar.

The original Algerian wine material itself was red Merlot or Cabernet. They began to transport it by tankers to Novorossiysk, where it was transported through the wine pipeline to the local wine factory. True, the tankers were cleaned with steaming and covered with a special food grade varnish. Next, regular beet sugar was added for flavor and ethyl alcohol for strength. After self-fermentation of these incompatible elements according to the norms of classical winemaking, terrible combinations of essential oils, saturated hydrocarbons, aldehydes and even cyanides were formed, in small doses simply poisonous, and in large doses - deadly.

At the same time, my interlocutor drew attention to the fact that simultaneously with "Solntsedar" there was a surge in the release of "Vermouth pink" (1.08 rubles for 0.5 liters), liquid of the color of a solution of potassium permanganate and also with large quantity sediment (niffel). People called this swill "Vermouth" or "Squermouth". The candidate argued that both modifications are made using the same technology, and in general the word "mumble" comes from the word "vermouth", and not from the verb "mumble", as was commonly thought.

A couple of years later, I ended up in Novorossiysk, saw with my own eyes a wine pipeline and was convinced of the correctness of the interlocutor. Then I spent two weeks in a holiday home in Gelendzhik, where I put together a small company. We had fun walking in the surrounding mountains and valleys and drinking excellent dry wine bought from local Greeks. From conversations with the natives, it turned out that Solntsedar was the name of a resort village on Tonky Cape near Gelendzhik, which became famous for the record number of sunny days per year for the USSR - as much as 310. In 1962, the village merged with Gelendzhik. It was there that the winery was located, where the production of Solntsedar wine was established.

The domination of "Solntsedar" in the alcoholic space of the USSR was short-lived. Obviously, the authorities decided not to bring the people to the root, but to partially leave them for internal consumption. But the people's memory of this unique drink turned out to be surprisingly long. "Solntsedar" gave birth to a whole folklore. Here are just some examples.

Chastushka:

Grandma went to the bazaar
And they bought "Solntsedar".
Okay, okay!
There is no more grandmother.

Couplets-slogans:

Tell me, uncle, it's not for nothing
Fathers poisoned with "Solntsedar"?

Don't waste your time -
Have a hangover with Solntsedar!

Joke:

- Have you heard - the capitalists bought the entire "Solntsedar" from the USSR?
- And for what?
- The Americans - poison blacks, the British - paint fences, the French - as a contraceptive, the Germans - poison cockroaches.

And finally, "Solntsedar" was immortalized in poetry and prose: Venedikt Erofeev mentions it in his poem "Moscow-Petushki", and Timur Kibirov sang it in the poem "Solntsedar" (1994).

Whoever said anything about the scarcity of counters in Soviet stores, it was still possible to choose something. And if you believe this Catalog of alcoholic beverages, sample of 1957, then with alcohol we in general were just gorgeous. And these 19 drinks are a reason to feel nostalgic, smile or feel sad.

1. Moscow vodka special 40%

40% drink prepared with the highest purity alcohol with the addition of soda and sodium acetate.

2. Stolichnaya vodka 40% - Ukrainian gorilka 45%

They are prepared with the highest purity alcohol. V capital vodka sugar was added, and honey was added to the vodka. Have a mild taste and aroma of vodka

3. Vodka 56% - Vodka 50%

Both drinks are prepared with the highest purity alcohol and have a pungent taste and pungent odor.

4. Soviet rum 45% - Soviet whiskey 45%

Soviet rum was made from sugar cane, while whiskey was made from rye and barley malt.

6. Cumin bitter tincture 30% - Cinchona bitter tincture 40%

Caraway infusion is prepared on aromatic alcohol of caraway seeds with the addition of juniper infusion, which gives it a bright taste and aroma. "Cinchona" - prepared with tincture of cinchona peel and spices.

Infusion of leaves of certain varieties of apples and pears with the addition of cognac and port.

8. Tincture "Excellent" 40%

It is prepared in essential oil of caraway seeds with added sugar. Differs in sweet taste and wine aroma.

9. "Rowanberry on cognac" 24%

Sweet and sour tincture prepared on alcoholic infusion of mountain ash with the addition of sugar and brandy.

10. "Sea buckthorn" tincture 20%

Sweet and sour drink with a pronounced sea buckthorn scent, prepared in an alcoholic drink of fresh sea buckthorn.

11. "Ukrainian Slivyanka" 18% - Ukrainian cherry liqueur 20%

Sweet and light liqueurs made from fruit-alcoholic juices.

12. Cherry plum liqueur 20% - Cornel liqueur 18%

Made with natural alcoholic juices.

13. Raspberry liqueur 18% - Black currant liqueur 20%

Made with natural alcoholic berry juices.

14. Liqueur "Transparent" 40% - Liqueur "Crystal" 45%

The clear liquor is prepared on essential oils cumin, coriander and lemon. "Kristal" is prepared with aromatic alcohol from caraway seeds, coriander and orange peel, the bottle is decorated with sugar crystals.

The Taste of a Parallel World ...

In 1938, the recipe and trademark were registered in the USSR vodka "Stolichnaya"... Vodka began to be produced only a few years later, in 1941, while the first bottle of Stolichnaya was produced in Leningrad.

Since 1971, vodka has been on sale in the United States. The rights to distribute vodka were received by the American PepsiCo(we all know Pepsi-Cola!), in exchange for the right to build a plant for the production of carbonated drinks in Novorossiysk. In America, our "Stolichnaya" has received the stable name Stoli.
In post-Soviet times, there was, and is happening now, a terrible confusion with the owners of the Stolichnaya brand. At the moment, this vodka is boycotted by gays and lesbians in the USA and England (as a Russian product), and vodka is produced in Latvia. There is no official production of this brand of Russian vodka in Russia.

Moscow special water or just Moscow vodka
is a national brand of Russian vodka, introduced in 1894 by the Russian state vodka monopoly. Its production was stopped (along with other spirits) with the introduction of a ban in Russia after the outbreak of the First World War. The brand was reinstated in the Soviet Union in 1925. Throughout its history, the Moskovskaya bottle has been characterized by its green label.

Except for water and alcohol standard recipe for Moskovskaya includes small amounts of baking soda and acetic acid... Moskovskaya is the only Soviet vodka made from grain alcohol.

Vodka "Wheat"
The history of Pshenichnaya Vodka dates back to the 70s of the 20th century. In fact, this is a new brand developed for domestic consumption. It was on this vodka, according to Leonid Parfenov, that a wrap-around cork was first used, only this vodka began to understand that the bottle could not be finished, leaving it "for later."

The label of this vodka was decorated with a picture, in the words of the same Leonid Parfenov, "just copied from an ABC book." The same native spaces, the same fields, ricks and a village ... Everything is completely in the Russian style.

Siberian vodka
It appeared, like Pshenichnaya, in the 70s. It was distinguished by its increased strength in comparison with the "Wheat" and, like the "Wheat", had a wrap-around cork. Originally intended for domestic consumption, it has found excellent overseas markets. The traditional design with a triplet is to blame, a name associated with the wild Russian land, or something else - now it's impossible to say for sure. However, it was at Sibirskaya that the technology for purifying vodka with activated carbon was first tested and then put into mass production.

Kuban
Although it was officially called vodka, it has always been a bitter liqueur. At first, the label said "Russian vodka", but then, in the process of development, the words about vodka disappeared. And there was "Bitter Tincture".

Russian
Let's just say it was a mass model. The taste and smell of this vodka had a sharp and unpleasant, despite all attempts to flavor the product with cinnamon. But it was produced everywhere, each republic had its own "Russian". Interestingly, it was also exported. The brand was dilapidated and dilapidated, deteriorated. but ... But the reincarnation of Russkaya vodka is taking place at the present time. And this is not the fault of the producers of alcohol. The Sochi Olympics are the main catalyst. I don't say anything else, I suggest looking at the photo:

One of the pictures was mumbling. And where did Stark go, Herods?

And a lot more missing:

1. Vodka "Moscow Special" - it is a 40% drink prepared with purified alcohol with the addition of soda and sodium acetate.

2. "Stolichnaya vodka" 40% and "Ukrainian gorilka" 45%- prepared with the highest purity alcohol. Sugar was added to the capital's vodka, and honey was added to the vodka. Both drinks have a mild vodka taste and smell.

3. Vodka 56% and Vodka 50%- both drinks are prepared with alcohol of the highest purity and are distinguished by a burning taste and a pungent odor.

4. "Soviet rum" 45% and "Soviet whiskey" 45%- rum was made from sugar cane, and whiskey was made from rye and barley malt.

5. "Kursk White" tincture 40% and "Kubanskaya Amateur" 40%- both drinks are prepared with aromatic alcohol. Flower petals were added to Kurskaya tincture, and citrus peels were added to Lyubitelskaya.

6. "Caraway bitter tincture" 30% and "Cinchona bitter tincture" 40%- "Caraway" infusion is prepared on aromatic alcohol of caraway seeds with the addition of juniper infusion, which gave it a bright taste and aroma. "Cinchona" - made from cinchona peel and spices.

7. "Stark" 43%- tincture of leaves of certain varieties of apples and pears with the addition of cognac and port.

8. Tincture "Excellent" 40%- prepared in essential oil of caraway seeds with added sugar. Differs in sweet taste and wine aroma.

9. "Rowanberry on cognac" 24%- sweet and sour tincture, prepared on an alcoholic infusion of mountain ash with the addition of sugar and brandy.

10. "Sea buckthorn" tincture "20%- a sweet and sour drink with a pronounced sea buckthorn scent, prepared in an alcoholic drink of fresh sea buckthorn.

11. "Ukrainian Slivyanka" 18% and "Ukrainian cherry liqueur" 20% - sweet and light liqueurs made from fruit-alcoholic liqueurs.

12. "Cherry plum liqueur" 20% and "Cornelian nalivka" 18%- prepared with natural alcoholic juices.

13. "Raspberry liqueur" 18% and "Black-currant liqueur" 20% - prepared with natural alcoholic juices of berries.

14. Liqueur "Transparent" 40% and Liqueur "Crystal" 45%- "Transparent" liqueur prepared with essential oils of cumin, coriander and lemon. "Kristall" - based on aromatic alcohol from caraway seeds, coriander and orange peel, the bottle is framed with sugar crystals.

15. Liqueur "Benedict" 43% and Liqueur "Chartreuse" 44%- strong liqueurs prepared with aromatic alcohol with the addition of herbs and other types of aromatic raw materials.

16. "Cherry plum liqueur" 25% and "Cornel liqueur" 25%- liqueurs with a rich color, prepared with alcoholic juices.

17. Liqueur "Yubileiny" 27%- aromatic liqueur prepared with aromatic alcohols of lemon and orange peels.

18. "Spicy liquor" 39%- prepared with aromatic alcohol and 12 herbs.

19. "Almond liqueur" 27%- a liqueur prepared with aromatic alcohol of bitter almonds, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

New Year's holidays continue, but I can still look at vodka and eat it, so I suggest remembering Soviet vodka .. Or, more precisely, remembering Soviet vodka brands and their prices.

In those distant times, vodka was made from three types of alcohol: "Highest purification", "Lux" and "Extra". Alcohol of the "Highest purification" was driven from a mixture of grain, potatoes, sugar beets, molasses, raw sugar and some other heap in arbitrary proportions. "Lux" and "Extra" - only from grain with an admixture of potatoes and something else, but with a different degree of purification. Cheap sorts of vodkas were made at that time from the "Highest purification" alcohol, and more expensive ones were made from "Lux" and "Extra", hence the difference in vodka prices.
Below are the prices for 1981-1986. between the rise in price of vodka under Brezhnev in September 1981 until the next rise in price of vodka under Gorbachev in August 1986 with the cost of a bottle (the “collateral” price of dishes in 1981 rose from 12 kopecks to 20 kopecks) per 0.5 liter bottle ... to those Soviet vodkas that I tried.
We'll talk about Soviet bitter and sweet vodka liqueurs, wines, cognac and beer somehow separately, but about vodka I remember (or it seems to me that I remember) that:

« Russian vodka"- before the rise in price in 1981, it cost 4 rubles. 12 kopecks, after - 5 rubles. 30 kopecks The most widespread, massive and disgusting vodka, with a pungent and unpleasant smell and the same taste (despite all attempts to flavor this product with cinnamon). I drank from despair and lack of money by drunks and students.
« Extra" and " Old Russian"- before and after the rise in price they cost the same, neither in taste nor in smell differed in any way from" Russkaya "and gradually disappeared from sale.
« Moscow special"- before the rise in price in 1981, it cost 4 rubles. 12 kopecks, after - 5 rubles. 30 kopecks The oldest of the Soviet mass vodka brands (the pre-revolutionary brand was restored in the USSR in 1925). The "special" thing about it was the addition of baking soda and acetic acid. It was better than “Russian”, but not much, and all other things being equal, “Moskovskaya” was chosen from these two brands.

« Stolichnaya"- before the rise in price in 1981, it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks In the 30s, at the suggestion of Mikoyan, the USSR decided to expand the Soviet vodka range, and in 1938 the USSR registered the recipe for a new vodka. It was this vodka that was actively imported to the West, and if the bourgeois wanted really Soviet vodka, he took Stolichnaya, and therefore it appeared in many Hollywood films. The quality of the export "Stolichnaya", of course, could not be compared with the internal Soviet one and was several orders of magnitude higher, but the internal one was also good. Strength - 40% vol., But there were also variations in 37.5% vol., 45.7% vol., And even 57% vol. I don’t remember how this affected the price. I drank mostly for festive table.
« Wheat"- before the rise in price in 1981, it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks It appeared in the late 70s and became a very common vodka. It was believed that it is based on wheat raw materials and has a special "wheat" softness. At first, they say, she possessed. But when I started drinking vodka, Pshenichnaya did not differ much from Russkaya, although it was more expensive. I drank when there were no others, better.
« Ambassadorial"- before the rise in price in 1981, it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks Very soft and good vodka, but for some reason it was not appreciated by men. Sometimes it was bought specially for the ladies, with the aim of their subsequent seduction.
« Hunting"- before the rise in price in 1981, it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks I used it a little, but I remember that there was good vodka. The strength of this vodka was in several variations: it was produced with 45% vol., 51% vol., 56% vol. She was rare, and rarely drank.

« Siberian"- before the rise in price in 1981, it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks At a higher strength (45% vol.) It had a very mild taste, but did not belong to classic vodka not only because of this - some kind of alcohol was used to dilute the alcohol mineral water... Very good vodka, and therefore also rarely met.
« Ukrainian gorilka"(Or similar" Drevnekievskaya») - were sold in the original green square bottles of 0.75 liters, and I don't remember their prices. Although they were Ukrainian, they met here not much more often than "Hunting" or "Siberian". They were often ordered by visiting business travelers and guests from fraternal republics, and were taken there as a present. Their strength was also 45% vol., And some aromatic alcohols with honey were added to them. Good vodka and drank, too, mainly at the festive table.
« Stark"- imitation of Polish starka. At first it had the inscription "Old Vodka", which later changed to "Bitter Tincture". Fortress - 43% vol. For an amateur. I was not a fan of her, so I don’t know the price.
« Golden ring"- very expensive vodka (I don't know the exact price, but 10-15 rubles) in a cardboard box. They said that it was exported, although it was found on sale. I tried it once on a visit - it seemed that it was just an export version of Stolichnaya (which was also on sale in Berezki and special distributors).

Vodka labels of the same brand differed depending on many factors: production time, place of manufacture, export version, etc. In addition, some regional distilleries of the union republics produced local vodka, which did not go further than the region into trade. I wanted to place labels of Soviet vodkas, which I had never tasted, but there were too many of them.

Well, and the very last mass Soviet vodka "Andropovka", which was distinguished by the extreme laconicism of the label: the word "Vodka" and a finely-fine line of different GOST numbers there (it resembled the label of the old Soviet "Vodka" of the 70s, which in the early 80s disappeared). This vodka was introduced when he came to power, Andropov and it cost 4 rubles 70 kopecks (the price decreased from the cheapest vodka by 60 kopecks, although before that in the Union vodka prices were only rising). This decline then had nothing to do with the real economy, and was pure populism aimed at conquering people's love to the new secretary general.
This vodka was a Soviet vodka hit of the 1983-1984 season, but it did not live as long as Secretary General Andropov, and died quietly during the time of Gorbachev.