Nikolai is a brand of

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 impuritie ...

on the market in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The brand was originally launched and developed by

Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...

, and has existed since at least 1963.Advertisement, ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', Aug. 13, 1963.
/ref>Advertisement, ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', Dec 21, 1966.
/ref> The Nikolai brand is currently owned and produced by the

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionair ...

, which purchased the brand rights from Seagram in 1989 (along with 16 other product lines). The sale was preceded by an announcement in late 1988 by Seagram that it had decided to sell the brand. The Nikolai brand is available in 80, 90, and 100 proof bottlings. It's bottled in Frankfort, Kentucky. The Nikolai brand has been marketed primarily as a value-oriented brand, advertised as being priced very reasonably while tasting like more expensive vodka. The brand web site says that the brand is produced using a unique proprietary distillation technique and a special recipe to yield low congener vodka, and that the Sazerac Company has been faithfully adhering to Seagram's original formula for its production process.Great Vodka - Nikolai
- Nikolai vodka brand official webpage. The Sazerac Company classifies its vodka brand offerings into three categories: "super premium", "premium", and "standard". Nikolai is classified in the "standard" brand category. Spirit reviewer Bob Emmons has described Nikolai 80 proof as having "few flavors other than alcohol and a light burn".Bob Emmons, ''The Book of Gins and Vodkas'', Open Court Publishing, 1999.
/ref>

References

American vodkas Sazerac Company brands {{distilled-drink-stub