Absolut’s Tåhlin says: “The distillation process is very important to ensure the quality and is often used in marketing as a claim of quality. However, the numbers of distillations vary and it is important that consumers are aware of the differences. Absolut is continuously distilled, which means it has been distilled several hundred times.”
At the recent International Spirits Challenge judging, chairman Ian Wisniewski, widely acknowledged as a world expert on vodka, grouped the entries into ingredients then sub-divided into flights of standard, premium, and super-premium (Drinks International, July 2012).
Wisniewski concludes: “This approach showed just how much individuality there is among vodkas distilled from the same ingredient and marketed within the same price position. Having such focused flights also meant discussions among the judges were very specific, going into considerable detail and often at great length.
“Our many discussions included the merits of brands that had different personalities, for example elegance compared with a richer style, and also how brands could deliver the ‘classic’ characteristics associated with a particular ingredient but in their own individual way.”
So who says vodka is bland, tasteless and just about the name, the bottle and now the social networking?
