I originally wrote this review in July 2008. A lot of folks recently have mentioned that my info from 2008 Stoli bottles isn’t correct anymore. Russian market Stoli is produced in Russia, but outside markets are produced in Latvia. I use information from the bottle to populate details and don’t review very often. I have updated Stolichnaya with the information on the most current bottle, which acknowledges the Latvian production of the US market vodka. My local store doesn’t carry Stoli Elit, so I can’t verify the current labels and I have not updated Stoli Elit. I will confirm the next time I find a Stoli Elit bottle. –Robert, October 2018

I’ve stared at Stoli Elit for months. The only thing that kept me away was the $69.00 price tag here at the local ABC Store. It’s safe to say that this is the most expensive bottle of alcohol I’ve purchased. Since I was celebrating a special occasion and I had to review it eventually, I picked up the bottle.

For the record, I couldn’t post the price of this vodka in my database because it augmented the averages too much. It caused the more expensive vodkas to register as average price, which mis-represents the playing field.

The Shot

Unsurprisingly, Stoli Elite tastes just like Stoli. Stoli Elite is much smoother than Stoli, but that’s about the only difference.

The Mixed Drink

Stoli Elite is a great mixing vodka. It was completely undetectable in my Simply Orange Juice and Red Bull.

Opinions

Erin wanted me to note that this is the first vodka she’s been able to breathe after shooting before taking a shot without gagging. She said she couldn’t taste the vodka in her Simply Orange Juice and Red Bull.

Stolichnaya Elit is a good vodka. It takes all the good characteristics of Stoli and refines away all the bad. That said, I can find no reason Solti Elit should cost as much as it does. It would fit perfectly in the same price bracket as the ultra premium brands like 360, Chopin, Grey Goose, X Rated, and the rest. Instead, it gets slotted into some ultra-super-mega premium league with no other competitors that I’m aware of (which is probably for the best for S.P.I., because it drinks only as well as other ultra premiums).

If you have more money than you know what to do with, Stoli Elit is a great vodka. If you’re like me, don’t bother. There are better vodkas for about half the price.