WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THE TTB, CHOPIN VODKA VINDICATES A MISUNDERSTOOD SPIRIT
by Allyson Reedy
You’d be forgiven if you missed the big news about vodka that broke in April 2020—it’s not as though there weren’t other pressing events crashing down around us at the time. But the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau finally amended its definition of vodka to account for the distinctive character, flavors, and aromas that it had previously described the spirit as lacking. To which anyone who has ever enjoyed vodka said, “Well, duh.”
One of those people would be Tad Dorda, the founder and CEO of Chopin Vodka. (Although “duh” probably wasn’t the exact word coming out of the well-spoken gentleman’s mouth.) Dorda has been advocating for the spirit for decades, long rejecting the idea that all vodkas are the same. “The first step is recognizing that it does have character, taste, and aroma,” he says. “If it didn’t have those things, why would we drink it?”
Dorda was learning and talking about precisely those things even before he launched Chopin back in 1992. In fact, it was his curiosity about and passion for vodka that led him to become a distiller, using traditional methods and top-quality ingredients from his native Poland. And anyone who’s tasted Chopin’s trio of single-ingredient expressions knows how different the creamy potato vodka is from the peppery rye, and how the wheat, with its light sweetness, stands apart too.
“Don’t look at it as a neutral spirit; don’t look at it as if there’s nothing to be said about it,” Dorda insists. “The story behind vodka, the history of how it’s made and where and how it’s consumed, is as rich as any other alcohol—as rich as whiskey, and as rich as a lot of other products out there that we talk more about. The deeper you look into it, the more interesting the story gets: It’s all about ingredients, terroir, water, and climate. The things we can learn from wine—how it’s linked to the terroir, the weather, the people who make it, the slopes, the sun—it’s exactly the same thing in vodka. What is growing on that land, who cultivates it, why is the soil that way, is it sunny, is it foggy? We need to start to talk about vodka in an intelligent way.”
Dorda’s passion is contagious. It’s also drinkable, and a drinkable passion is our favorite kind of passion, not least considering that Chopin is one of the few vodka brands in the world that manages the entire process from start to finish. Like a winery that sits amid its vines, Chopin’s distillery is located within 18 miles of the potato, rye, and wheat fields from which Dorda’s team thoughtfully selects each crop. They choose various types of potatoes, for example, based on their flavor profiles, because—again, just like wine grapes—different varieties can impact the character of the final product.
Their respect for their ingredients, processed fresh and fermented naturally to allow them to shine, extends to the water they tap from 100-meter-deep wells on the property. The liquid is distilled in an old-fashioned copper column that has been making vodka for so long it’s practically an alloy of element and spirit. And then it rests for a minimum of six months, because this isn’t a process to be rushed. That’s how it’s been at Chopin since the beginning: caring for every ingredient, apparatus, and technique that contributes to the special spirits in the frosted bottles.
So yes, Chopin was making vodkas with distinctive character, taste, and aroma since before it was “allowed.” And along the way, it collected a famous fan who’s as obsessed with the details as Dorda: fashion designer Vera Wang. “Vera is a passionate Chopin drinker. She discovered [it] some time ago, and it’s the only thing she drinks,” Dorda says. After the two met and bonded over their shared passion, Dorda decided that Wang should have a special vodka made just for her. So he brought her some 20 different potato vodkas (her preference) to taste, and she selected her favorite. Of course, since this is Vera Wang we’re talking about, she created an exquisite black and-white bottle in which to house her spirit of choice. The collaborative special edition hit stores in spring 2021.
Now that vodka’s definition has officially changed, Dorda believes there’s even more to talk about, like building a vocabulary to describe its nuances, sharing cultural aspects of the drink, and diving into the heart of how it’s sourced and made. “It’s not about [Chopin] being better than another spirit rather than being different,” Dorda says. “We’re ready to have intelligent discussions about the care that goes into it, how it’s made, the ingredients, the process. I want to tell you our story, and maybe you’ll be fascinated by what I have to say. That’s what Chopin is all about.”
