Vodka Questions SPB

I have tried to find information on the boards regarding the best vodka to get while in St. Petersburg and how best to bring several bottle home. My children and nieces and nephews (all in their 20s and 30s) prefer vodka as their spirit of choice and I wanted to bring some home as souvenirs. Is the vodka that much better and cheaper than what we can get in the States? If there is a great vodka there that we cannot get in the States, would it be better to bring it back to the ship with me or does anyone know if we could get it shipped to the States? Any insight is appreciated.

I can't speak to best or worst, but pic below is the bottle I just brought home a few days ago. The store where I shopped said it was not the best, but a very good quality. It's more of a souvenir, and I bought mainly for the design of the bottle. I spoke to the sales person in the store at length, and she was glad to give me many samples. :-D She explained that like anywhere, there is a wide range of quality, and seems that most of their offerings she warned me against buying, so they have plenty of bad vodka too. The store where I purchased wrapped this in bubble wrap, and I just put in middle of clothing and checked in luggage for trip home. That could be more problematic if you have multiple bottles, but just depends on your luggage space. Shipping would be quite expensive, and I did speak to various vendors about shipping for many different items, and none like to do it as issues during shipping fall back to the vendor to resolve. The duty free shop on the pier in SPb also had a variety of vodkas at good prices, but was more of your typical brands. I went ahead and bought a bottle of Grey Goose there since it was such a good deal.

The best widely available Vodkas are said to be Beluga and Russky Standard (gold). I like Beluga, very smooth and comes in a nice bottle which would make it my choice to bring back. I don't know if it is that much better than Grey Goose but probably they will enjoy the fact that you brought it back from Russia. The price is probably only slightly cheaper than a cheap state like New Hampshire.

IMHO, Beluga and Mamont are both excellent. My personal favorite is Tsarskaya - reputed to be Peter the Great's favorite and later a favorite of the Romanov court in St. Petersburg. It is made in St. Petersburg & I find the bottle pretty cool (picture of Peter on bottle).

IMHO, Beluga and Mamont are both excellent. My personal favorite is Tsarskaya - reputed to be Peter the Great's favorite and later a favorite of the Romanov court in St. Petersburg. It is made in St. Petersburg & I find the bottle pretty cool (picture of Peter on bottle).

I bought that just for the bottle, but didn't really know the name. Searched when you posted about Tsarskaya, and it's the same. Not sure if I'm going to keep sealed as a souvenir or imbibe yet.

Remember that you can bring 1 liter of alcohol per person duty free into the U.S.A. over that and you will pay duty. So think carefully if this is something you want to pay on top of the cost of the vodka.

Link to U.S. Customs: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/190/kw/coming%20from%20Russia/session/L3RpbWUvMTUzNDEwODc2NS9zaWQvenNtb0IzVW4%3D

Thanks everyone for all of the feedback, this has helped immensely.

Remember that you can bring 1 liter of alcohol per person duty free into the U.S.A. over that and you will pay duty. So think carefully if this is something you want to pay on top of the cost of the vodka.

 

Link to U.S. Customs: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/190/kw/coming%20from%20Russia/session/L3RpbWUvMTUzNDEwODc2NS9zaWQvenNtb0IzVW4%3D

The duty on liquor is very low (about $2 per bottle) if you go over your allowance. We always declare everything and have never been charged duty on a few extra bottles (many agents think its not worth the paperwork). The important thing is to be honest with your declaration and let the agent decide if he/she wants to assess any Duty. By the way, Tsarskaya Gold is actually sold in the USA and its generally about $20 a liter. Not sure what they are now charging in Russia.

Hank

I can't speak to best or worst, but pic below is the bottle I just brought home a few days ago. The store where I shopped said it was not the best, but a very good quality. It's more of a souvenir, and I bought mainly for the design of the bottle. I spoke to the sales person in the store at length, and she was glad to give me many samples. :-D She explained that like anywhere, there is a wide range of quality, and seems that most of their offerings she warned me against buying, so they have plenty of bad vodka too. The store where I purchased wrapped this in bubble wrap, and I just put in middle of clothing and checked in luggage for trip home. That could be more problematic if you have multiple bottles, but just depends on your luggage space. Shipping would be quite expensive, and I did speak to various vendors about shipping for many different items, and none like to do it as issues during shipping fall back to the vendor to resolve. The duty free shop on the pier in SPb also had a variety of vodkas at good prices, but was more of your typical brands. I went ahead and bought a bottle of Grey Goose there since it was such a good deal.

 

Hi-Thanks for the info. We leave on Baltic Cruise next week and will be 2 days in St. Petersburg. I too was interested in purchasing Vodka. I'm curious about the duty free at the pier. Can you tell me what other things they have there? My wife wanted to buy some red caviar and wondering if they have that?

Thanks Again

Neilio

By the way, Tsarskaya Gold is actually sold in the USA and its generally about $20 a liter. Not sure what they are now charging in Russia.

 

Hank

Do you know where one can purchase it in the US? I can't find it at the liquor stores I frequent (Colorado).

I last bought a bottle for a friend at duty free, Pulkovo - think it was about 30 euros - would love to find it in in the US for $20!

Do you know where one can purchase it in the US? I can't find it at the liquor stores I frequent (Colorado).

I last bought a bottle for a friend at duty free, Pulkovo - think it was about 30 euros - would love to find it in in the US for $20!

I cannot speak for Colorado's liquor stores :). But its available here in the East at many decent booze stores. Its pretty easy to find in NYC (where we often visit our grandchild) and some stores around Washington DC.

I decided to look at the Total Wines inventory since many cruisers visit their Ft Lauderdale store. They do not carry Tsarskaya but have other Russian vodkas including some in the Beluga line. Personally, we think the Kirkland Vodka (the California version) sold at Costco is far superior to any of the Russian vodkas we have tasted, but that is just personal preference.

Hank