Distillation

Normal vodka is made from corn grains. These grains give a distillate  which is much harsher than the sweet rye grains Pravda uses from the  Carpathian fields in Poland. The cost of the rye grains is ten times  more expensive than corn. In addition, the distillate yield from rye is  one third of corn. Therefore, making a vodka from rye costs thirty times more than  making a vodka from corn. But it is worth it. Corn gives a strong taste  whereas sweet rye gives a “mellow” taste. In addition to the grains  there are other distinctions to making Pravda outstanding.

Pravda is made by a normal three step distillation process. Thereafter,  something special takes place. The Pravda distillery has two extra high  columns in addition to the first three. These extra high columns permit  drawing off spirits that are pure because there is less impurities which are drawn off. The extra two columns eliminate 40% of the distillate  thereby giving a smaller yield. But the product is extremely fine and  pure. The five step distillation process is worth it.

Above and beyond its sophisticated five step distillation process, Pravda activates an extra step in distillation, which is truly magical. It takes place in a unique copper still in that, as the copper reacts with the distilled spirits it softens their taste making them extra gentle. The reason why Pravda Vodka is extraordinarily smooth.

Water  can be purified by demineralization. You can take normal city water,  run it through a demineralizer, strip out all the impurities and you  have a water that’s pure; however, it’s flat – it has no taste. It has  lost all its round character as water. Since water is 60% of a bottle of  vodka, you want water that has character, that works well with the spirits and  softens the spirits, and it marries the spirits; not just flat water.

What does Pravda do to get fantastic water? First, all the water  comes from a mountain reserve where people are not permitted to visit.  This water is for very special usages and never finds its way into the  city.

The  water comes from mountain springs. It comes from natural rainfall. It  is totally pure and natural. Pravda brings this water to its vodka  factory in stainless steel tankers – carted much the way people bring  milk. And in fact it comes in milk trucks – stainless steel milk trucks.  So every drop of this water is really worth its weight in gold.

Once the water gets to the Pravda plant it is then treated in a very  subtle way – no demineralization, only a gentle filtration process which  eliminates any of the heavy minerals and makes the water extremely pure  and drinkable. The water is also full of character – it’s round and  soft. It has a superb quality to it – perfect to blend with spirits. The  special process of filtration was developed by German technicians and  uses state of the art methods of reverse osmosis.

It’s very important to blend pure water with the spirits in an easy slow  way because if you put the water into the spirits too quickly you  create a thermo-dynamic reaction which breaks down the molecules of the  water and also the softness of the spirits. So it takes us two weeks to  gently mix or blend the water with the spirits to create an azeotropic  mixture of purity of water and spirits which creates vodka. Just taking  pure alcohol and throwing water into it will give you what some people  call vodka, but not for Pravda because Pravda understands the  thermodynamics or physical chemistry of blending water with spirits to  achieve a soft mixture.

The special charcoal used for Pravda is made from French birchwood grown  in the forests of France, particularly suited to make excellent  charcoal which softly coaxes out any impurities in the azeotropic  mixture of the spirits and the water. This special charcoal is unique to  Pravda. Other vodkas are made with commercial charcoal which does not  remove impurities as finally and creates a harsh taste.

The combined water, spirits, and charcoal are cold stabilized and then  passed through ultra technical filters under high pressure. This gives a  purification of a vodka that is unique and special.

To be doubly assured that every drop of Pravda is perfect, each bottle is washed twice before Pravda is placed into it. First there is a hot  washing and then there is a washing with pure spirits. These spirits are  dripped out of the bottle slowly. Then the bottles are air dried and  Pravda Vodka is filled: Filled into an immaculate vessel prepared  specially for Pravda Vodka.

Every bottle of Pravda is held for six months after production before it  is released. At the end of the six months, it is tasted by nine  tasters. They go through an organolyptic appraisal tasting for nose,  aroma, etc., to give their blessing. If any one of the tasters does not  feel that the quality is totally smooth, pure, lacking in harshness, it  is not sold in the market. It is dumped and destroyed, assuring that only the best quality vodka leaves the distillery.