(FORTUNE Magazine) – Stoli cocktails are usually strong, but there's a new blend in Russia that looks particularly potent. It began brewing in 1992, when the Russian state-owned company that operated Stolichnaya Vodka sold the rights to privately held SPI Spirits. SPI sank hundreds of millions of dollars into paying off debt and building the brand into an international powerhouse. In fact, Stoli became such a moneymaker that the Russian Ministry of Agriculture now wants it back. How, exactly, does that work? The government simply asked the Russian patent office to "re-register" the trademark. "That was business as usual in old Russia," says Rich Eldin, an SPI attorney. The courts ruled against re-registration (which is considered a no-no in new Russia). So the Russian Agriculture Ministry--working with the re-engineered KGB--resorted to force and impounded 150,000 cases of Stoli at a Kaliningrad port. The Russian embassy in the U.S. is now trying to broker a peaceful solution.

While SPI stands to lose its entire domestic market if the Ministry prevails, the vodka blockade shouldn't affect U.S. supply. SPI sold the U.S. distribution rights to Allied Domecq in 2000, and Eldin says those rights appear to be safe. The Russians, meanwhile, probably won't try to lay claim to the puny 15 million cases of Stoli exported each year (the 166 million cases consumed inside the country is what they care about). Allied Domecq declined to comment, except to say the U.S. vodka supply won't be compromised. What a relief to all those tipplers who won't settle for less than Stoli.

--Melanie Shanley