Spirits of the Year Awards

Food And Wine Magazine December 2001

Jewel of Russia's bottle is out there. Hand-painted Technicolor designs, an oniondome cap, Cyrillic lettering (you have to turn the bottle around to see the words Jewel of Russia)-it's like watching Tarkovsky's great film Andrei Rublev on acid. Fortunately, the liquid within will steady your nerves. It's supposedly ultrafiltered and ultradistilled, but that didn't eliminate the hints of citrus or the sweetness and light spiciness of winter wheat and rye ($55)