'Pure craftsmanship': Mongolian spirits firm looks to break onto international stage with premium base and distillation process
Chinggis Khan vodka is notably named after Mongolia’s most famous ruler and conqueror, more commonly (though erroneously) spelled as Genghis Khan in many countries worldwide.
“The spelling ‘Genghis Khan’ actually came about because the real pronunciation Chinggis Khan was lost in translation over the years,” Chinggis Khan parent company APU Chief Global Commercial Officer D.Ariuna told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“So we believe that using Chinggis Khan as the brand name for this vodka is not only because it can being that aura of pinnacle craftsmanship to it, but also can get the proper, correct spelling and pronunciation of this Mongolian hero’s name out there.
“The vodka itself is what we call the Original Mongolian Vodka, and we can lay claim to this as the wheat and water we use is from the Mongol plains and craters.”
The wheat that Chinggis Khan vodka is made from grows in Zuunkhara valley, a place that has historically been very fertile ground with the crops, grass, soil and water here all known to be of very high quality, resulting in many tribal wars having been fought over it over the years.
“Importantly, we use the winter wheat to make this vodka, which gives it an even more intense flavour as once the wheat in this valley is not harvested during its regular autumn season, the sugar content rises tremendously,” she added.
“The water is actually snow water, as Mongol is naturally already located at a high elevation around 1,500 metres above sea level so we have snowy mountains all year round.
“This snow will melt and flow through cracks into the craters, collecting a rich content of minerals along the way – and this is the water we collect for the fermentation process ot make our vodka.
“The distillation process is also very a very time-consuming one, as we distil our vodka six times in total to get it to the quality we want, before filtering this through charcoal, quartz, silver, pearls and diamonds.
“The final product is then rested for over 500 hours until it settles down and reaches the smoothest mouth feel with a silk-like texture.”
Chinggis Khan vodka currently retails at US$64.99 for a 700ml bottle, and US$69.99 for a 1L bottle.
Wider ambitions
Apart from Mongolia, the vodka has made its way to several international markets such as Thailand and the United States, but believes that its premium production process and ingredients mean that it has the potential to go even further.
“It comes back to the name Chinggis Khan – this is a name recognised all around the world for being a mighty conqueror, and we believe that our vodka has the potential to conquer the industry as well,” she added.
“This title can also be split into Chinggis which means Ocean, and Khan which is of course King – and in Mongolia the ocean has a deeper meaning as it is metaphorically considered the biggest thing ever which has no limits, and we definitely want to live up to that expectation.”
