Polugar No. 3 Caraway Vodka
Polugar No. 3 Caraway Vodka is a 750mL bottle of historic Russian-style "bread wine" bottled at 38.5% ABV (77 proof). This savory, aromatic expression is triple-distilled in copper pot stills from a rye-and-wheat mash, with caraway and coriander added directly to the pot before the third distillation — then clarified with egg whites and filtered through white birchwood charcoal. Order online at Del Mesa Liquor and taste a recipe tradition that predates modern vodka.
- ABV: 38.5% (77 proof) — the historic "half-gar" strength
- Size: 750mL
- Base: Rye and wheat, triple-distilled in copper pot stills
- Flavor: Caraway and coriander added before the third distillation
- Clarification: Egg-white fining + white birchwood charcoal filtration
- Distillery: Rodionov & Sons Distillery, Poland
A Bread Wine Remade From 1745 Recipes
Before 1895, Russian vodka wasn't the neutral spirit we know today — it was "bread wine," distilled in copper pot stills much like single malt whisky. When Tsar Alexander III outlawed pot stills, that tradition vanished. Vodka historian Boris Rodionov spent years recovering the original recipes from the Russian National Museum, and his family's distillery in Poland faithfully reproduces them: copper pot stills built from 18th-century drawings, egg-white fining, and birchwood charcoal. No. 3 Caraway was built to recall classic Borodinsky bread — dark, savory, seed-flecked — and it tastes like it: a vodka that reads more like whiskey's long-lost Russian cousin than anything on the vodka shelf.
Tasting Notes
The aroma strikes with seedlike bitterness and crushed-caraway oiliness; the mid-palate is lightly toasted and delicately bitter, unmistakably Borodinsky in character. The taste stays focused entirely on savory caraway through the finish — no sweetness, no neutrality, just warm rye bread and spice. It's oily and full-bodied where modern column-distilled vodkas are lean, which is exactly the point.
How to Enjoy
Serve No. 3 slightly chilled and neat as an aperitif, or after a meal the way bread wine was meant to be taken. It also shakes into cocktails with real conviction: try a Deli Martini (Polugar No. 3 with dry vermouth and lemon bitters) or a mojito-style pour where the caraway takes over the mint's role. Pair it with dark rye bread, pickles, cured meats, or smoked fish — foods it was literally designed to accompany. Explore the rest of the Polugar range to compare the Infused Series side by side.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Polugar No. 3 Caraway Vodka?
A caraway-flavored "bread wine" — the pre-1895 Russian style of grain spirit, triple copper-pot distilled at 38.5% ABV and flavored with caraway and coriander before the final distillation.
What does it taste like?
Crushed caraway seed, lightly toasted rye bread, and a delicately bitter mid-palate that finishes on savory caraway — the importer describes it as reminiscent of Borodinsky bread.
Why is it only 38.5% ABV instead of 40%?
38.5% is the historic "half-gar" strength: before alcohol meters existed, two portions of distillate were burned off together into one, landing at 38.5%. Polugar bottles the whole range at this traditional strength.
Where is Polugar actually distilled?
At the Rodionov & Sons Distillery in Poland, since Russian law still forbids the traditional copper pot stills. It follows Russian recipes recovered by vodka historian Boris Rodionov.
The savory one in the lineup — order Polugar No. 3 Caraway Vodka online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA, and put a piece of 1700s Russia on your bar cart.