How One Of The World's Most Expensive Vodka Was Stolen And Later Found

We typically don't think of the humble potato or stalk of wheat, key ingredients for making vodka, as a high-end ingredient. However, with mashing, brewing, fermenting, and distilling, these can be transformed into smooth-sipping vodka with a considerable price tag. These starches and grains can even be transformed into a ritzy limited edition vodka that can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. And the world's most expensive vodkas get into the millions, including the exorbitantly expensive Russo-Baltique vodka which was the target of theft a few years ago. With a bottle of gold and silver and a diamond-encrusted cap, it's priced at $1.3 million.

The luxury bottle was crafted by Russian car maker Russo-Baltique to celebrate the opening of their new factory, and the design of the company's car radiator guard can be found on the front of the bottle. Not for the average consumer, Russo-Baltique's vodka is intended for wealthy vodka lovers and royalty – the first bottle was gifted to Prince Albert of Monaco. The bottle had been loaned directly from the car manufacturer to a bar in Copenhagen that features an exclusive display of vodkas. In January 2018, an unidentified intruder was captured on CCTV stealing the bottle, and taking nothing else from the bar. 

The missing bottle wasn't gone for long — it was discovered at a nearby construction site just a couple of days later. Unfortunately, the bottle was empty, but the bottle was found unbroken and undamaged and reported to have the same value.

At Chowhound, we are connoisseurs of all food and drink, and have to ask what could make a vodka over $1 million dollars? In this case, the lofty price tag is mostly attributed to the bottle itself, rather than the liquor it contains. Only 625 bottles exist, and most information available is about the bottle design and components. When the stolen bottle was recovered but found to be empty, the bar owner shared that it could be filled with more of the same vodka that they had on hand. Therefore it's safe to assume that the vodka inside wasn't a limited edition or vintage vodka that would be difficult to come by. 

Despite the Russo-Baltique vodka being called the "world's most expensive vodka" in headlines, there are more expensive bottles that exist. If a $1 million price tag isn't enough, "Billionaire's Vodka" may be more your flavor. Set at a price of $3.7 million, the platinum bottle is encrusted in 3,000 white diamonds and white fur, and it is hand-delivered by yacht or private jet. There is something special about the actual vodka here — it is filtered through diamonds and other gems. 

If diamond-filtered vodka is your type of taste, another brand called Diva makes a vodka filtered through Nordic birch charcoal, diamonds, and gems; the $1 million bottle also features a wand of Swarovski crystals. Most of us don't have a budget for these bottles, but we do have tips for making cheap vodka taste better and the best mixers for this liquor.