VODKA, VODKI or WODKY, the Russian national spir ituous beverage. Originally vodka was made almost entirely from rye, barley malt to the extent of 15 to 2o% being used to effect saccharification (see but at the present day potatoes and maize are the staple raw materials from which this spirit is manufactured, and, as a rule, green rye malt is now used instead of barley. During the World War the sale of vodka was prohibited,
and after the revolution of Nov. 1917, the soviets made an at tempt to enforce general prohibition, but failed.