Category — Vodka

Entrepreneur Victor G. Harvey has created a new super premium Vodka called “V. Georgio”.  The vodka is infused with real fruit with an acai berry vodka and a V.I.P. version which is infused with cranberries, guarana and caffeine in their range. The vodka which launched in Miami recently, will be distributed in the US by Southern Wine and Spirits.
www.vgeorgio.com/

We went to the Absolut Masquerade Pop-Up bar/space/vintage fashion store for the opening night and over the weekend on Redchurch Street in London. Inconjunction with designer Daisy De Villeneuve and Mint vintage clothes store Absolut took over a space and decked it out with varying sizes of the limited edition sequinned Absolut bottle, free cocktails and vintage clothes for punters to try on. It was fun. Cocktails however were on the average and unimaginative side- vodka and tonic and a cosmo anyone? But all in all it was kinda cool and looked great. We particularly loved the Konstantin Grcic cocktail glasses. There must be a warehouse full somewhere left over from last year.  More pics after the jump…

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Vladivar have just launched a responsible drinking campaign which coincides with the launch of their new bottle in the UK. It takes a far more humorous route than other brands campaigns. Is it working for you?

Hailing from the former Soviet republic of Moldova is this wheat based, honey flavored vodka, packaged in the shape of a fire extinguisher complete with locking pin, trigger and nozzle. We were expecting the vodka to be flavored or infused with chili or spices to make sense of the name and bottle - but alas no - so we assume it references starting your night off with a bang. That or they are huge Prodigy fans in Moldova.

Amaze and ridiculous at the same time.

It is imported to the US by Kodiak Imports and is available in LA clubs and bars where they promoted it with Firestarter promo girls dressed like this.

I think this might be the start of a new series of posts on preposterous packaging. Be warned.

Our pals at Absolut have given us a pair of priority guest list tickets to give away for the Absolut Masquerade temporary space in London on Saturday 25th October. 

With the help of acclaimed British illustrator Daisy de Villeneuve and vintage clothing boutique Mint a 140 m² studio venue has been transformed into a fabulous fashion wonderland, fully stocked by Mint with glamorous vintage clothing and accessories. 

Taking the new ABSOLUT MASQUERADE gift pack as your lead, you will enter a world of make believe, while enjoying FREE ABSOLUT VODKA cocktails in plush, elegant surroundings. Whether scouring the rails and shelves of clothes for hidden treasures, or relaxing at one of the comfortable seating areas, visitors to the House of Masquerade will be encouraged to let their imaginations run wild to create their perfect party outfit.

To win the guestlist tickets email paul@beyonddrinks.com by the end of Thursday 23rd.

Belvedere asked students at the Danish Design School to design a new Danzka Vodka bottle for the duty free market. The winner was this beautiful snowflake design. Nice work.  Anyone know the name of the winning student designer? We would like to give them props.

Just when you thought vodka had ran out of ideas along comes a vodka made from pineapple juice and distilled in Hawaii. Pau Maui is the first vodka which has been made and bottled entirely in Hawaii. (Ocean vodka is bottled there but is actually distilled in Idaho.)

Not to politicize a small vodka producer but we like to think of it as an Obama friendly vodka.

What do you reckon?

Russian Standard have launched a new vodka with the added ingredient Ginseng. Russian Standard Gold has just gone on sale in Russia and will likely hit Western markets next year sometime. Popular in energy drinks, the use of ginseng in vodka is pretty rare (Mohawk springs to mind) and might just be a hit for the ambitious Russians.

Pincer is a herbal infused vodka featuring extracts of wild elderflower and milk thistle, known for their protective effects. This new botanical vodka will be available from October in the UK. Find out more at www.pincervodka.com.

Grey Goose and jewellery designer Theo Fennell have created a limited edition accessory - a solid silver cocktail spoon - available exclusively at Selfridges. There are 120 limited edition straws retailing at £135 each with proceeds donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

They say:

“The Grey Goose Straw is a truly bespoke piece designed by Theo Fennell with his distinctive and inspirational craftsmanship.  The design is sleek and modern with the signature Grey Goose feather in solid silver making this the perfect accoutrement for the stylish cocktail connoisseur.”

We say: Was this David Furnishes idea? Nice.

Belvedere have announced the launch of Belvedere Intense, a new 100% proof vodka, for sale in airports. We havent got our hands on a bottle yet but we are intrigued. Tasting notes say “it has an intense aroma with notes of crème caramel, dark savoury spice, and rich bitter chocolate.”  The bottle looks good too- moving from the frosty white to a glossy black.  Look out for it at most of the leading international airports including Heathrow and JFK. It retails at 45 Euro for a 1 litre bottle with 50% ABV. 

We think this might rock.

Quite beyond. Directed by Todd Mueller & Kylie Matulick at Psyop.

In a somewhat dubious ‘well our name fits, lets do it!’ way, Oval Vodka are jumping on the US election bandwagon by launching a competition to decide what will be its signature cocktail - the OVAL Office. From now until October 25th the brand (which incidentally was created by a Russian professor and produced in Austria) is calling on “bartenders, cocktail lovers and consumers” to create an original vodka cocktail and submit them at the website.

We are filing it under “should of left it in the marketing brainstorm”.

Fashion designer turned artist, Helmut Lang has teamed up with Absolut for a two part collaboration for his latest art project Alles Gleich Schwer which will run as part of the ongoing “In an Absolut World” campaign. A VIP party was held last week and the exhibition will run until November 2nd at Kestnergesellschaft in Hanover. Read more at the David Report.

With pear cider rising in popularity across the UK, VK (Vodka Kick) the ready to drink, flavored vodka from Global Brands will add Pear to its flavor lineup as of October. They are hoping that drinkers taste for pear will crossover from cider, which we guess has some logic to it.

Absolut Summer is the first ever UK specific Absolut Vodka gift pack. The fun white plastic bottle features a colourful butterfly design. Brits can pick up one of the limited edition bottles at their local branch of Sainsbury’s.

Sylvester Stallone has signed an estimated $1 million, one year deal with Synergy, the Russian vodka producer to advertise Russian Ice vodka ( Russky Lyod). From September the Italian American actor, whose great- grandmother was from the Ukraine, will appear in television and newspaper advertisements under the slogan, “There is a bit of Russian in all of us.”

Read the full press release after the jump [Read more →]

One of the current LTD edition Absolut bottles is Masquerade, a rather camp one which has the bottle clothed in red sequins which unzips.

News is that proper details and images of the Dr Dre Sparkling Vodka and Cognac he has developed with Drinks Americas are to be released within the next 60 days.