Joint-Stock Company Moscow Distillery Crystal (russian: Открытое акционерное общество "Московский завод «Кристалл», lit=Okrytkoye aktsionernoye obshchestvo 'Moskovsky zavod "Kristall"), formerly known as Moscow State Wine Warehouse No. 1, is a distillery in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, known for producing traditional Russian

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

. Founded in 1901 as a state-sanctioned distillery, Kristall is the largest liquor and vodka enterprise in Russia, and is best known internationally as the birthplace of the Stolichnaya vodka brand.

History

In 1896, by

decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...

of the Minister of Finance of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, Sergei Yulevich Vitte, a

state monopoly In economics, a government monopoly or public monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. It is a monopo ...

on the production and sale of

alcoholic beverages An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...

was introduced. On June 24, 1901, Moscow State Wine Warehouse No. 1 was founded as a state-sanctioned

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

distillery in

, located on the banks of the

Yauza River The Yauza (russian: Я́уза) is a river in Moscow and Mytishchi, Russia, a tributary of the Moskva. It originates in the Losiny Ostrov National Park northeast of Moscow, flows through Mytishchi, enters Moscow in the Medvedkovo District an ...

in the east of the city. The distillery employed 1,500 people and was planned to produce 600,000 state vodka buckets per year, however, only a week after opening plans were made to expand production due to unexpectedly high demand, and instead produced 2,100,000 (approximately 2.6 million

decalitre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric units, metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubi ...

s) in its first year of operation. At the beginning, production was divided among three quality divisions, from lowest to highest quality: "simple", "improved", and " boyarskaya". From October 31, 1914, due to Russia's participation in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the distillery's production was cut down and was closed to the civilian market because of a dry law, while production continued for the military, foreign market, and medical applications. A

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

was situated for some time in the unused areas of the distillery building. Due to the collapse of the Russian Empire and the rise of the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

to power, it was not until 1923 that pre-war production was restored at the distillery as a state-owned enterprise of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. By January 1, 1924, the distillery had produced 844,720 litres of vodka. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in addition to vodka production, the distillery also produced "

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

" weapons for the Soviet war effort. The distillery was severely damaged by a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

bomb on July 22, 1941, igniting flammable products in the building, but despite the heavy damage production continued. For contributions during the war, the distillery was awarded the Banner of the State Defense Committee. In January 1987, the distillery received its current name, Moscow Distillery Crystal. In 1993, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the distillery became a private joint-stock company and the Moscow Distillery Kristall name

trade mark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...

were registered.

References

External links

Moscow Distillery Cristall
(English; official website) {{Vodkas Drink companies of the Soviet Union Distilleries in Russia Manufacturing companies based in Moscow Food and drink companies based in Moscow Cultural heritage monuments in Moscow