Brian Nagele
As we take you on a tour of the most sumptuous and luxury vodkas ever created, indulge in the rich world of spirits. We present the drinks that push the limits of luxury by combining the best ingredients with a hint of exclusivity in this enticing investigation. These vodkas transcend the ordinary, appealing to the discriminating connoisseur with a taste for the unusual. They come in diamond-infused mixtures and crystal and gold-adorned bottles. Come celebrate with us as we raise a crystal-clear glass to the artistry, status, and price tags that set the finest vodkas apart from the others. Raise a glass to drinking the ultimate in luxury liqueur!
Billionaire Vodka
Billionaire Vodka claims it’s the most expensive vodka in the world, with a price of about $3.75 million for a single bottle. The company will hand-deliver it through a private delivery service at a time and place of your choosing. It’s top-quality service, although anything less would be ridiculous at this price point. Billionaire Vodka’s manufacturing process involves taking natural spring water and filtering it through ice, birch charcoal, and crushed diamonds (yes, really) before bottling. Of course, the triple distillation will remove most of the natural minerals, but it’s always nice knowing a company starts with good ingredients.
Absolut Crystal Pinstripe Black Bottle
Absolut Vodka produces drinks at a full range of price points, but the Pinstripe Black Bottle is easily one of their most expensive. At $10,000 per bottle, you’d have to shell out quite a lot, though the real focus of the purchase is the unique bottle more than the drink itself. Unfortunately, this is one I didn’t get to try in person because Absolut only made ten of the black bottles. I have tried one of the more-common regular bottles (about $1500 each), which got opened at a party, but even those will be difficult to find at best. This is a case where a bottle is both expensive and rare, but since we’re talking price today, it would be wrong to leave it out.
The Eye of the Dragon
The Eye of the Dragon is a single bottle from Royal Dragon Vodka, valued at about $5.5 million but realistically not for sale in any sense that matters to the rest of us. The bottle has about two kilograms of gold and over 15,000 diamonds on it, so most of the price is in the materials rather than the drink inside. Like Absolut’s bottle, I wasn’t able to taste this one myself (for obvious reasons), but I was able to see the bottle in person at a private event once. It’s even more impressive in person than in photographs, and I encourage taking a look yourself if you ever get the chance.
Belvedere Vodka’s Belver Bears
This is easily one of the cutest vodka bottles I’ve ever seen, though getting ahold of a new one is difficult at best. Belvedere didn’t make many to start with, and most were only available in a select few locations for buying. However, at about $7200 each, they’re still among the most realistic purchases for high-end vodka. I got to try a small sip from one bottle, and the presentation certainly helped for delivering a smooth drink with almost no burn. I got the bottle after, thanks to some quick talking, and it’s now the centerpiece in a bottle collection (filled, alas, with purified water) to bring out a little more charm.
DIVA Premium Vodka
DIVA is another eye-popping option, with the premium bottles priced at a cool $1 million and coming with a gem-encrusted bracelet for added bling. More unusually, they also have a discounted bottle line, which is just $150 a bottle and, therefore, it’s one of the most affordable options on this list. Like most expensive vodkas, most of the price comes from the materials, which in this case means crushed diamonds and gems during the filtering process. Sand filtration works, though using gems for it is mostly because a company can rather than any specific need.
OVAL Swarovski Crystal Vodka
Swarovski ends up on many expensive vodka bottles, and OVAL’s crystal bottle is no exception. Each bottle costs about $6922 and has over seven thousand crystals on it, which says more about the price of the crystals than the drink inside. This is another case where the bottle is the most notable part. In OVAL’s case, you need a special light display to show the real effect of the crystals, and it’s rather duller without that. Presentation matters for a great drink.
Russo-Baltique Vodka (Old)
Russo-Balt is known primarily for its engines, but it would be kind of strange if a Russian company wasn’t able to produce some of the world’s most expensive vodka. This company has two bottles on our list. The old bottles retailed for about $740,000 and featured a twenty-pound gold case. The container is made to mimic the look of the company’s classic automobiles, though it only ever released ten bottles. In the interest of honesty, I haven’t gotten to taste this one myself, but its price is public knowledge and qualifies for this list.
Kors Vodka 24k, George V Limited Edition
Kors Vodka’s 24k George V bottles are a little more accessible than some others on this list, produced in a series of 250 bottles and retailing for about $24,500 each. The distillation time is a point of interest here, with the company taking about 170 hours per bottle. Cheaper vodka usually takes less time, though this isn’t the longest distillation I’ve seen. The crystal bottle ships in a handmade walnut chest, complete with glitzy decorations. Gold flakes can be added by request, though I think they negatively impact the final drink.
Russo-Baltique Vodka (New)
Russo-Balt’s newer bottle is even more expensive than the first one, selling for about $1.3 million. One of them was famously stolen in 2018, a relatively rare event for vodka at this price point. Like most expensive vodka, the bottle is the standout part. This drink comes in a bottle made from gold coins specifically minted between 1908 and 1912, which is the kind of insanely specific detail I love. The bottle is supposedly bulletproof, but I don’t expect anyone is going to test that claim.
Imperial Collection Super Premium Vodka
The Ladoga Group’s Super Premium Vodka is one of the more varied entries on this list, with about twenty-five different cases styled after the famed Faberge Eggs. Prices will vary by store, but the better cases tend to sell for around $2000, which makes them some of the most affordable options here. I prefer these over some of the other options on this list. It’s not the price difference, but rather that the bottles themselves are excellent display pieces and worthy of a spot on display. Some other bottles simply don’t fit that way.
Alize Swarovski Studded Vodka
Oh, look, another Swarovski crystal bottle. Alize’s pink bottles also retail for about $2000, like the Imperial Collection bottles, and they’re thoroughly covered in crystals to ensure a glittering performance. This bottle is essentially a Valentine’s gimmick, so if you want to give it to someone else, consider a dark red background and some lighting to make the bottle shine.
Iordanov Vodka Decadence Version
Iordanov Vodka doesn’t focus on English buyers much, but their $4117 bottle features a shimmering outside with both the company name and the rest of the bottle decorated in – you guessed it – Swarovski crystals. The color of the bottle may vary slightly depending on the flavor of the vodka inside, so this is an option to get if you want vodka with flavor.
