It now has a 30% share of the UK spirits market and brand proliferation continues as consumers experiment with different ways to drink it. For a long time vodka has been made all over the world from almost any raw material and, a bit like cheddar cheese, by the time someone thought to give it some international definition and protection such as that enjoyed by the Scotch whisky industry, it was too late to retrench to any sort of traditional heartland.

 

Traditional producing countries such as Russia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden had wanted vodka’s raw materials restricted to traditional ingredients such as grain and potatoes, but they failed to get their proposals

accepted on the international stage.

 

Nonetheless some labelling obligations have been brought in. If vodka is made from grain or potatoes the raw materials do not have to be put on the label. It need only say ‘vodka’. Vodka made from other raw materials such as sugar beet molasses, grapes and other fruit, soya or sugar cane for example must now mention the raw material on the label.

 

With so many to choose from, points of differentiation are becoming key. Belvedere was possibly the first luxury vodka on the market, with targeted distribution in top style bars and hotels such as the Cuckoo Club, Amika and Annabel’s.

 

Belvedere’s business development manager Alex Field says: “The Polish vodka is famous for its soft, velvety vanilla flavour and long finish. Belvedere has a strong image; it’s a cool brand and you want a brand that has a strong association with vodka. Russia and Poland are the heartland of vodka.”

 

Another Polish brand, Snow Leopard, apportions 15% of its profits to wildlife charities including the Snow Leopard International Trust. The snow leopard, as any follower of Sir David Attenborough on the telly knows, is an endangered big cat living in the mountains of Central Asia.

 

Keeping the icy theme going, Snow Queen, one of the few from Kazakhstan, is made from organically grown wheat. Peter McKinley of distributors McKinley Vintners says: “It’s an extraordinarily pure vodka, in a chic frosted bottle, with a fantasy blond Viking-ess on label, and its purity helps it to shine as a cocktail ingredient.”

 

The water it is made from comes from the Tien Shan mountains and has gone though a complex filtration and reverse osmosis procedure for an extra pristine quality.

 

It seems its organic status is not the only USP. Matthew du Cann, Snow Queen’s brand development manager, says: “People like it coming from the unknown country of Kazakhstan. We did a lot of education about Kazakhstan and vodka. People like the heritage of its provenance.”

 

Award winning, seven times distilled Diplomat vodka from the Russian Liviz distillery looks like stealing a march on the heritage USP though. Rey Karpf, the Russian vodka’s owner, says: “Our vodka is about status and about being an original product.

 

Diplomat dates to 1721; it was a diplomatic gift from Tsar Peter the Great to King Philip V of Spain.” While all of these are grain vodkas, potato vodkas could be in for a boost this year because 2008 is the year of the potato. UK artisan crisp producer Tyrrells has plugged into this and has started making vodka from spuds that are too small to go into its crisp production. Vodka sales manager George Shropshire says: “We’re looking at three, possibly four distillations, but the more times you distil it, the less flavour is kept in the vodka. Ours makes a lovely, creamy, smooth, delicate mashed potato flavour on the tongue.”

 

The 54 Revolution bars across the country have indeed revolutionised the way we think about vodka. Marketing manager Sam Jones says: “Our aim is for Revolution bars to be the best loved bars. 40% of our sales are vodka and we don’t sell any cocktails that don’t contain vodka. We make 30 flavoured vodkas ourselves and, in addition to these, bars have between 30 and 60 premium vodkas including six different versions of Stolichnaya, for example.

 

“Flavoured vodka is the easiest way to get people to try new vodkas – for example cherry vodka in a cocktail. We also offer vodka masterclasses where our customers taste six vodkas with a vodka expert, learning different tastes, vodka’s origins, history, and how it’s made. They can also learn to make our Polish Bullet, which is Zubrowka plus Crupnik honey vodka, topped with pressed apple juice, shaken over ice.”

 

Like the original Zubrowka, Polish vodka Grasovka available from Halewood International has a single blade of hand harvested bison grass in each bottle that gives the vodka a mild, spicy flavour and a hint of light green.

 

Brand manager Sue Beck says: “It’s particularly nice as Yellow Bison, mixed with 70% apple juice for a long drink. “We are finding that with the number of premium brands, flavours and sheer choice, consumers are coming to appreciate the quality and are exploring different ways of drinking them. We’ve done research suggesting consumers are keeping bottles in the freezer, and are sipping them from shot glasses. They’re also exploring at home with infusions.”

 

Du Cann sees this too saying “you can infuse the vodka yourself, with raisins, etc, and after five days you have your own flavoured vodka”.

 

Cocktails certainly remain the stalwart use for vodka. But while the economy might be a bit rocky this year, neat premium vodka on the rocks looks like being the new drinking style de rigeur. Tyrrells’ Shropshire says: “The big education we can do is to get people to drink it without anything else in it.” Meanwhile Karpf adds: “The vodka market is expanding into a more connoisseur market, as people are about whiskies.”