Altia Eesti, the Estonian subsidiary of the Finnish-Norwegian company Anora, is active in the Estonian market and maintains a selection of three vodka brands. Saaremaa is better known, Arsenitch a bit less popular and Eesti Standard Vodka is generally less known. It’s focused mostly on Finnish tourists, which come to Tallinn to buy cheap alcohol. Not marketed at all and on sale mostly in big alcohol stores  close to the harbour. The name is a bit misleading, as the raw material comes from Koskenkorva, Finland, which has then been diluted at Altia Estonia factory in Tabasalu. In addition to traditional vodka, there is also a cranberry-flavored version available. In addition to rectified spirit and specially treated water, a natural cranberry juice concentrate has been added. Currently, the product is only available in a few stores and in 20 cl plastic bottles, which costs about 3 euros.

The smell has a tiny cranberry nuance. The taste is rather dry and not as cranberryish as you might expect. Cranberry is, of course, a basic flavor, but it does not attack to the face. There is just a little added sugar, the taste is quite pungent and also quite bitter due to the pectin from the cranberries. The aftertaste remains a pungent and bitter, pectic aroma. The manufacturer recommends it for making drinks, but when I tried it with the tonic water, the aroma of cranberry felt rather light. Although the color of the liquor is red, the cranberry is mainly in the side role and not in the main part. However, the Estonian Standard Cranberry is generally quite okay, it’s easy and rather pleasant to sip but the taste is a bit too thin. 

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