Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/205467
but we're looking for people who appreciate quality and provenance," Shapiro says. "People who probably drink a single malt scotch, better quality bourbon. These are not the people who are drinking the tutti-frutti flavored vodkas. This," he says of Soyombo, "is a genuine vodka." Finally, Soyombo is just the beginning according to Jett Yang. "We'll be importing an ultra-premium vodka called Chinggis Khan later this year and a premium entry, Arkhi, in 2014." Shapiro adds that the APU Company makes an outstanding line of craft beers and he hopes that one of these leading products will also be introduced next year. Looks like we're about to experience the mystique of Mongolia. www.mongolianvodkas.com/soyombo PHOTO: THE APU COMPANY This ancient Mongolian painting (left) shows the Bogd Khan's Winter Palace surrounded by a wall. Today (right), you can see the APU Company compound (tall white building) where Soyombo is distilled, just to the left of the palace wall in the capital of Ulaanbaatar. FOCUS ON THE CHAIRMAN: Batsaikhan Purev, Moving Mongolia into the 21st Century PHOTO: THE APU COMPANY Batsaikhan Purev is a man of the world but even more so, he is a man of Mongolia. As the Chairman of The APU Joint Stock Company, the largest beverage producer in Mongolia, his focused leadership and strong belief in supporting the creation of Soyombo as a spirit of and for the Mongolian people has been unsurpassed. And now, Batsaikhan wants to share Soyombo globally. Since 1924, APU has been the First National Company of Mongolia. Created as a state-controlled company, Mongolia's number-one beverage producer is now in private ownership and developing into one of the most technologically advanced producers of bottled water, soft drinks, beer and spirits in Mongolia and possibly the wider world under Batsaikhan's leadership. "Our devotion to the highest qualities creates this unique offering of the best of Mongolian natural resources and nomadic luxury to seal bonds of unspoken trust in an ever-changing world. Our company respects the natural minerals and ingredients offered up by nature, and using the most advanced technologies available, are now creating a new range of products to reflect the true purity and spirituality of our great land. Our spiritual concept of each person being individually connected with the sky brings forth a unique understanding of the relationship between man and the environment that has been lost to many cultures in the world today. From this unique perspective our present day Mongolian culture is growing. The essence of our future is supported, and at the same time eclipsed, by the ancient customs and traditions of our nomadic culture. A new and unique spirit of luxury is developing in our country, a landscape with immense natural resource. Together we are embracing the present with a cultural devotion to the creation of goods of the highest possible quality. " november 2013 / the tasting panel / 73 TP1113_066-107.indd 73 10/24/13 9:23 AM