The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
Traditionally known for vodka, Russia took a first step towards joining the list of whiskey-making countries when a distillery project in Kaliningrad received the OK to start construction.
The $14.6 million project is meant to build a distillery capable of producing 5 million liters of spirit per year, and is projected to create 200 jobs between its construction and operation. The Russian distillery is intended to open in 2018.
Although Russia already has homegrown whiskey brands, these are based on sourced, imported whiskey and not domestic production. The government opened the door to a Russian whiskey industry by legalizing production in July 2015.
Kaliningrad is a heavily militarized enclave, geographically cut-off from Russia, nestled between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Seacoast. It was created when the Soviet Union annexed part of the old territory of East Prussia from Germany at the end of the Second World War.
