Estonia's Signature Spirit Is So Popular It Was Used As Currency

卢布可能是苏联的官方货币，但是对于整个集团的账面交易，任何理想的物品都可以用作招标。这些地下“货币”中的最爱是Vana Tallinn- 柔滑的芳香利口酒，带有香草，柑橘和温暖香料的香气。

Vana Tallinn于1960年首次在爱沙尼亚首都塔林（Tallinn）生产，是不可能创造的结果。苏联were 20 years into what would be a 48-year occupation, and Liviko, the state's premier distillery, was known for its vodka production. Innovation during Soviet rule happened behind closed doors and often with limited resources.

Vana Tallinn在1960年9月悄悄地曝光，这要归功于Liviko的大师蒸馏器，这是一位名叫Ilse Maar的进取的女士。当时的贝里（Maar）和两个同事，伯恩哈德·尤尔诺（BernhardJürno）和贾恩·西莫（Jaan Siimo），厌倦了太甜美的贝里（Berry）前卫利口酒，决定创造出一些新颖而独特的精神，以富裕的风味灵感来源，至少受到遥不可及的风味，这是宽松的事情。

"History was not as appreciated in the Soviet times as it is today," says Jörgen Herman, Export Director atLiviko。"A lot of documents and data were destroyed or simply disappeared. We don't know exactly when the Vana Tallinn recipe was created, we just know that the first batch was produced in 1960."

传说，下班后在咖啡馆召集了创造性三人，以谨慎在酿酒厂墙外进行头脑风暴。迄今为止，确切的食谱仍然是一个严密的秘密秘密，但Maar和她的合作者在苏联不容易得到的食材并不容易。

赫尔曼说：“当您考虑其创建时间时，食谱确实非常特别。”“在苏联和60年前的背景下，马达加斯加的东西来自加勒比海，而这些食材中有一些东西很少。”

尽管朗姆酒，草药和香料的瓦纳·塔林（Vana Tallinn）到达爱沙尼亚（Estonia）的记录很广Jamaican rum是“实际上我们决定添加的最后一件事”，为食谱的开发带来了进一步的谜团。利口酒的骨干真的是事后的想法吗？

Sent from Moscow, a "plan for new products" allegedly arrived in Tallinn around the same time that Vana Tallinn came to fruition. Whether a result of coincidence or careful orchestration is perhaps anyone's guess; but then again, life in the Soviet Union was all about connections.

赫尔曼解释说：“公司是国有的。如果您有良好的联系，并且该公司运行良好，并为苏维埃系统创造了一些有用的东西，那么您个人可以从基本上得到任何东西。”“如果爱沙尼亚需要朗姆酒，而顶级政党的某人说：'听着，利维科需要朗姆酒来生产瓦娜·塔林，'他们可以得到它。”

尽管有模糊的起源故事，但瓦娜·塔林（Vana Tallinn）立即受到打击。爱沙尼亚人欣赏了柔软的口感和辛辣，甜美和愉悦的痛苦的感觉。利口酒通常与咖啡或茶一起搭配，而咖啡或茶则低调，原始版本的ABV为45％，为一个人的隐喻雄鹿提供了不错的轰动。

随着瓦纳·塔林（Vana Tallinn）的言论在整个苏联蔓延，后来又传到了附近的盟国和中立国家的需求。尽管它的受欢迎程度可以部分归因于精神选择的有限选择，但美味的味道无疑是一个因素。

Claims have been made that only bananas were a more sought-after commodity than Vana Tallinn in its earliest days, which is how the liqueur became such a valuable bargaining chip. According to Herman, it still holds up if you're in a tight spot today. "In post-Soviet countries, older people know it-Vana Tallinn is a kind of currency. For a bottle of Vana Tallinn, you can still get yourself help if you have a problem."

经过all accounts, Vana Tallinn (which simply means Old Tallinn) has stood the test of time. Estonia regained independence in 1991, but even after its days as a popular currency, Vana Tallinn remains very desirable. Finland, Estonia's neighbor to the north, claims the top spot for exports-Finnish people love the spirit so much that when celebrating 100 years of independence in 2017, a special Dark Liquorice edition of Vana Tallinn was chosen as Finland's centenary drink.

Liviko now exports Vana Tallinn to 38 countries, including the United States since 2010. The drink's dark, textured bottle represents the medieval towers of Tallinn's remarkably well-preserved old town, and though the glass and labels have seen many renditions through the years, one thing that hasn't changed about Vana Tallinn is its recipe.

“我们不做一个ything with the recipe, we can't change it," says Herman. "It's all-natural with no preservatives; it's really something special."

除了传统，产品演变是业务的必要组成部分。目前的Vana Tallinn产品系列包括原始产品的40％，45％和50％的ABV版本，以及野生香料，太妃糖焦糖，咖啡融合和奶油利口酒等特殊口味。

除了味道混合物外，该酿酒厂还开发了基于Vana Tallinn的酿酒厂鸡尾酒吸引各种各样的饮料爱好者。最终，在Vana Tallinn方面，少了。

赫尔曼说：“这不是杜松子酒和滋补品的音量产品。您可能只会喝一两杯。”

His favorite way to enjoy Vana Tallinn?

"On ice with a slice of lemon. It's perfect."