Admittedly, for this author, the liqueur's sweet vanilla and tangy citrus notes get appreciated pretty much only around the holidays. A few sips will be taken, maybe it'll be poured into a cup of coffee with dessert, and then it goes back on the shelf. This led me to wonder, is it genuinely meant for mixing, or is it intended to be consumed just as it is?
Furthermore, as each bottle describes the contents as “authentic Estonian liqueur,” how long has Vana Tallinn been around to obtain this title?
We must first look at the origins of Liviko, the manufacturer of Vana Tallinn. Liviko traces its history back to the distillery Revaler Spirit Fabrik, “which later grew into Tallinna Piiritusetehaste Omanike Ühisus Rosen & Co (Tallinn Distillery Owners’ Association)”, from which the separate Tallinna Viinavabrik OÜ was started.
In 1939, an eighteen year old woman named Ilse Maar (née Tuisumäe) came to work at Rosen & Co for the first time. She climbed up in the company, and in 1950, created “Liviko,” a “likööri ja viinakokteil” (“a liqueur and vodka cocktail”). The manufacturer moved through a number of facilities and names, but made this their company name in 1971.
In 1960, Maar, along with bottling manager Bernhard Jürno and the distillery specialist Jaan Siimo, took the time to develop a new spiced liqueur that continues to sell well in Estonia, and even more so abroad, as an export. Though, it wasn't expected to make such an impact. Before she passed away in 2012, Maar recounted how “…every year a new product had to be launched. We didn't plan to mix any new miracle drink, but it turned out so much that it has withstood the market to this day.”
Maar made other recipes, too, up until her retirement from the master distiller role in 1976, but it was this specific liqueur that earned her the colloquial title of “Vana Tallinna vanaema” (“the grandmother of Vana Tallinn”).
Liviko describes how it “became Liviko’s flagship from the start: the liqueur with its distinctive taste became a kind of currency and deficit commodity in the Soviet Union, the demand for which at that time was surpassed only by bananas.”
The original recipe of Vana Tallinn, produced at what used to be a vodka warehouse in the late 1800s, is focused on the rum it contains, the fruitiness of citrus ingredients, along with cinnamon and vanilla. Of the original recipe, there are 80, 90, and 100 proof liqueurs. At its simplest, it's served in a lowball glass on the rocks.
It's curious, though, how a household name in Estonian beverages is made with rum. Currently, it's sourced from Jamaica. But at its starting point behind the Iron Curtain, where did this rum come from? According to a 2006 issue of the World Trademark Review, significant exports of Havana Club rum from Cuba to the Soviet Union and Soviet-occupied nations began in 1972. For the first decade of Vana Tallinn batches, then, it's certainly possible that the rum was made closer to home, in Russia.
Today, you can marvel at all of the myriad ways the core recipe has been adapted. For one, there's a “Cream Liqueur”; another cream liqueur with nutty marzipan flavour; a variety made with cinnamon, ginger, pepper, and star anise; and even a slightly gold “Summer Lime” variation with a lime and mint flavour. The textured upper ridge of the bottle across these varieties solidifies their symbolic link to Estonia and to the Old Town's terracotta roofs.
So what are the manufacturer's recommendations for consumption? One way of serving it is as a spritz: fill a glass with ice, pour in four centilitres of the liqueur, four centilitres of dry white wine, eight centilitres of tonic, and stir it all together lightly. Slice an orange and place it inside as a garnish.
Alternatively, Kuleto's Cocktail Bar in Sydney, Australia has their own recipe for an “Estonia Martini Cocktail”, where the liqueur is stirred together with Teichenné Kinross Tropical & Exotic Fruits gin and ice, before it's strained into a glass with lemon peel and an olive.
Considering the drink's core components, estoniancuisine.com came up with a dainty, clever rum ball recipe, made with Vana Tallinn, leftover cookie and cake edges, butter, cacao, and condensed milk. If the liqueur can be found in rum balls, chocolate bars made by Kalev, or in a coffee and chocolate chip ice cream, there's no limit to how its flavours can add flair to baking.
Though the Vana Tallinn recipe is only slightly over 60 years old, these spiced flavours appeal to the idea of a time in the past when these flavours would have been even more rare and exciting. And for its presence in Estonian homes alone, it has certainly earned its label of authenticity.
