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| Wine & Spirits |
The New Luxury
Anthony Giglio
04/01/2004
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“Breathless” Appeal
Although vodka’s roots and tradition go back at least
600 years in and around the so-called “Vodka Belt”—Sweden, Finland, Russia, the
Baltic states and Poland—it drew little attention in the United States until
after the World War II. In his award-winning drinks tome, The Craft of the
Cocktail, author Dale DeGroff states that Smirnoff was the first vodka of repute
in this country, championed by a visionary named John Martin, then president of
Heublein, who tirelessly promoted the spirit in four cocktails: the Moscow mule,
the bloody Mary, the screwdriver and the vodkatini. It was Martin, in fact, who
put Smirnoff and James Bond together for four decades of infamous product
placement, beginning with Dr. No in 1962. DeGroff says that Martin transformed
the image of the three-martini lunch forever when he created the famous catch
phrase, “Smirnoff…It leaves you breathless,” to woo the lunchtime gin martini
drinker.
Despite its Slavic-sounding name, Smirnoff was actually made in the
United States. It was not until Finlandia arrived in 1970 that Americans got
their first taste of vodka from the Vodka Belt. “Finlandia was the first
designer luxury vodka in the U.S., first on the scene as far as an
internationally imported brand,” explains Scott Reid, vice president and global
marketing director for Finlandia. “Smirnoff was here domestically, but Finlandia
was the first, and has maintained a solid presence in the U.S., despite the fact
that it is a fairly understated brand.” Finlandia, Reid adds, is actually the
second-largest premium imported vodka in the world. (Indeed, with regard to 007,
Finlandia outbid Smirnoff in 2002 for partnering rights to the most recent Bond
movie, Die Another Day.)
In the wake of Finlandia’s success, other premium
vodkas emerged, each one raising the bar toward the $30 super premium. Wine and
spirits are classified in relation to their price tier. According to DISCUS, a
750-ml “value” brand will usually retail for between $6 and $10. A “premium”
brand will be in the $9 to $18 range, and a “super premium” vodka will usually
sell for over $20, though many marketers of super premiums will tell you the
minimum is really $25—Belvedere’s starting price. In the premium range,
Finlandia was followed by Stolichnaya, a Russian vodka with pedigree, which, for
a good part of the late 1970s, was the vodka to order. Absolut was soon to
follow.
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