Emperor: An Impressive Vodka Portfolio

Vodka is a competitive market, possibly more competitive than any other distilled spirit right now and it is tough for the boutique vodkas to climb the "social" ladder, so to speak. What this means for the consumer and connoisseur is that many of the finer vodkas require a long and daunting search in order to obtain and explore those beyond the commercial giants. Luckily we have the internet now and hopefully it is legal to ship liquor to where ever you may live - without the online liquor stores many of us would be stuck in a alcohol and cocktail rut.

In 2007 one of those little vodka companies came onto the scene and Emperor Brands' portfolio is one of the most impressive I have seen in a long time. What Charbay is doing to infused vodka, I believe Emperor is doing for clear vodka. You may not think that 3 super-premium vodkas and one premium (all being clear and "flavorless") could be produced by one company and yet taste completely different from each other while maintaining quality, but these French grain vodkas have done it.

After speaking with Zina Mashin, President of Emperor Brands, I understood exactly what the company's philosophy was and why they took on 4 different clear vodkas. The difference is in the subtle aspects of each, where Winter Palace is ultra-smooth with citrus and herb notes (and my personal favorite), Emperor is clean and has notes of grain. The third super-premium, Versailles, is a mix between the two, but a little richer. And that sparkling gem of a premium vodka, Imperial (which is half the cost of the other three, but priced the same and only available in a liter) is ideal for the everyday vodka cocktail. What is outstanding about this portfolio is that there is not one week bottling in the bunch and each caters to a different taste.

On to the bad news about Emperor...It's still young and it is tough for smaller companies to make it in this lucrative market. However, residents of DC, Maryland, Virginia and soon New York should be able to pick these up in your more discerning liquor stores. The company is working hard on increasing distribution, which is good for those of us outside those states and in the meantime you can order Winter Palace and Versailles online at DC's CentralLiquors.com (they also have an overall impressive stock of all spirits). One thing we can do as consumers is to become advocates for the smaller brands that we really enjoy - the business of liquor is a more a matter of demand than supply.