Vodka loses ground in Eastern Europe as whisky and flavored spirits gain

Drinking habits across Eastern Europe are shifting as war, taxes and changing tastes reshape one of the region’s most important spirits markets, with vodka still dominant in countries such as Ukraine and Poland but losing ground to whisky, flavored products and lower-alcohol drinks.

In Ukraine, the war continues to define how producers operate. Yuriy Sorochynskiy, chief executive of Nemiroff, said the company now works in what he called a permanent wartime environment. Late last year, a shipping container carrying Nemiroff products was struck in the port of Odesa by a Russian missile attack. Even so, he said exports have kept growing and now make up about 40% of the company’s sales.

Sorochynskiy said domestic sales have also risen despite the country’s shrinking population, with 5.3 million Ukrainians living abroad and an estimated 3 million or more under Russian occupation. He attributed part of that growth to tighter government regulation in 2023 and 2024, which he said reduced illicit trade. According to his estimate, illegal spirits still account for about 20%-25% of the Ukrainian market, mostly in domestic products.

He said Nemiroff posted double-digit volume growth at home as the state sought more tax revenue to finance the military. At the same time, logistics have become slower and more complex. Shipments that once took three days to Central Europe and five days to Britain now take 10 days to two weeks, largely by truck and with more border formalities.

Ukraine remains overwhelmingly a vodka market. Sorochynskiy said vodka accounts for 85%-90% of total spirits consumption there. But producers are also adapting to newer demand patterns. In March, Nemiroff launched its first ready-to-drink product in Ukraine, aimed at summer consumption and younger adults drawn to convenience and lower-ABV options. The company also distributes imported brands including Bushmills, Jose Cuervo and Whyte & Mackay’s Scotch portfolio.

That import business reflects a broader trend in the region. Scotch exports to Ukraine rose by 10% in 2025 to £6.3 million, according to U.K. customs figures cited in the industry report, well above the £2.4 million shipped in 2022, the first year of the full-scale war.

In Poland, vodka is still the largest spirits category, but imported whisky has gained share for years. U.K. customs data show bottled Scotch blends imported into Poland have held roughly steady at about £98 million in value over the past three years, while single malt has expanded more quickly. In 2025, single malt shipments reached £29.7 million, more than double the £14 million recorded in 2020.

Retail sales tell a more mixed story. NielsenIQ data showed Scotch volumes in Poland fell by 7% last year, but total whisky volumes were flat because of stronger growth in American, Japanese and Irish whiskey. IWSR data through 2024 showed Poland’s overall spirits market had plateaued since the pandemic, with zero compound annual growth and a 2% volume decline from 2023 to 2024. IWSR forecasts a further 1% annual decline through 2029.

Within that weaker overall market, some categories are still expanding. IWSR said bitters and apéritifs grew by 9% in volume in Poland in 2024, while brandy rose by 6%. Whisky, the country’s biggest imported spirits category, grew at an 8% compound annual rate from 2019 to 2024 and is forecast to rise by another 1% annually through 2029. Vodka moved in the opposite direction, shrinking by 3% a year through 2024, with that decline expected to ease to 1% annually over the next several years.

Those shifts matter beyond spirits alone because they point to where beverage demand is moving across retail shelves and bars. Tax policy, restrictions on late-night sales and consumer interest in lighter formats can influence which categories gain visibility and investment, from whisky and aperitif-style drinks to ready-to-drink products that compete for space with beer, wine-based cocktails and other packaged beverages.

Zak Oganian, chief executive of Origen X Group, said Poland has changed sharply in purchasing power and in social acceptance of premium products, though from what he described as a low base. He also called it a polarized market: about 70% of volumes are sold through retail, he said, and about 80% of that is entry-level.

For premium vodka brands such as Mikolasch Ukrainian vodka, Oganian said the focus is increasingly on bars and restaurants rather than mass retail. He pointed to new restaurant openings and stronger cocktail culture in Poland as signs that consumers are becoming more open to imported brands and more selective about what they drink.

Flavor is another major driver across Eastern Europe. Anne Martin, chief marketing officer at Stock Spirits, said fruit and citrus profiles remain strong in vodka while consumers are also showing interest in less traditional combinations. Citing IWSR figures for mainstream clear vodka priced at €9-€22 per 700-milliliter bottle, she said Stock holds about 25% volume share in clear vodka and more than 36% in flavored vodka across the region.

Stock produces Polish brands including Żołądkowa De Luxe and Gorzka at its distillery in Lublin. Martin said local production gives the company tighter control over supply and manufacturing at a time when regional conditions remain uneven.

Piotr Poznanski, IWSR research director for Eastern Europe, the CIS and the Middle East, said Poland is seeing rapid growth in low-proof flavored “vodkas” and colored spirits consumed more often in social settings similar to apéritif occasions than in traditional heavy-drinking contexts. Stock has expanded around that trend with Lubelska fruit liqueurs bottled at 25%-28% ABV in more than a dozen flavors.

Martin said consumers are not necessarily abandoning alcohol but are drinking with more moderation and variety in mind. That pattern is visible in national consumption data. In Poland, per-capita alcohol intake measured in liters of pure alcohol fell from 9.62 liters in 2020 to 8.8 liters last year.

Even as consumption eases, tax pressure remains high. Poznanski said Poland’s finance ministry proposed accelerating excise increases to 15% in 2026 and 10% in 2027. President Karol Nawrocki vetoed that amendment in December, leaving January’s increase at the annual 5% rise that has been applied since 2021. Within weeks, Polska 2050, part of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing coalition, was trying to reverse that veto.

Oganian argued that a steeper tax increase would mainly hit entry-level products rather than premium bottles. According to the figures cited in the report, a 15% duty increase would add only about three zloty to a standard 700-milliliter bottle of vodka.

Poland is also tightening rules on availability. In Warsaw, a ban on off-license alcohol sales after 10 p.m. is due to take effect this month as city authorities try to curb nighttime drinking. Measures like that could further shift demand toward bars, restaurants and categories associated with lower-strength or occasion-based drinking.

Elsewhere in Eastern Europe, local traditions still shape category strength even as international brands expand. In the Czech Republic, Martin said rum remains one of the most important spirits segments, including tuzemák, the domestic non-cane style long associated with the country’s drinking culture. Stock’s Božkov remains the leading rum brand there.

The Czech market is also becoming more important for whisky brands positioned on price accessibility. Martin said Clan Campbell, acquired by Stock Spirits from Pernod Ricard in 2023, has already become the fifth-largest mainstream Scotch whisky brand there. In Poland, she described flavored whisky as an important niche for growth, prompting launches such as honey and lime variants alongside smaller formats including a popular nine-centiliter bottle.

Across Eastern Europe, producers say consumers are becoming more careful about how much they drink while still looking for flavor and quality. Dávid Chovanec, export manager at Tatratea, said behavior is being shaped especially strongly in bars and restaurants by two forces: greater attention to value for money and moderation during nights out. He said drinkers increasingly want spending on drinks and service to feel justified and are less likely to switch repeatedly between different spirits categories over an evening.

The result is a regional market where old loyalties remain strong but no longer guarantee growth. Vodka still dominates by volume in key countries such as Ukraine and Poland, yet whisky has built momentum through imports and premiumization while flavored spirits, aperitif-style serves and ready-to-drink products are opening new paths for growth under tighter economic and regulatory conditions.