«Royal» («Рояль») was a notorious brand, or rather a catch-all name, for cheap, often outright counterfeit drinking alcohol that flooded Russian markets and kiosks in the early 1990s, typically sold as a concentrated spirit meant to be diluted with water. Produced with wildly inconsistent quality control, sometimes containing methanol or other industrial contaminants, «Royal» and drinks like it were blamed for a wave of poisonings and deaths across the country during the chaotic first years after the Soviet collapse, when state alcohol regulation had effectively disintegrated. Anton invoking it as the low bar for bad taste, next to a bottle of real French cognac, says a great deal about how far he believes he’s come.
"Royal" Spirit
