Vodka David Slays Goliaths (Signal vs. Noise)

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Vodka David Slays Goliaths

01 Feb 2005 by Matthew Linderman

A tasting coordinator adds a bottle of lowly Smirnoff to a blind taste test of 20 high-end vodkas and, wouldn’t ya know it, Smirnoff winds up the hands-down favorite (the experts described it as “pure, clean and ultrasmooth”).

Its success illustrates a vital truth about vodka. Unlike most other spirits and certainly unlike beer and wine, vodka does not necessarily benefit from artisanal manufacturing.

I wonder how Vladimir through a Brita filter would have fared?

Speaking of vodka, Frank Gehry designed the bottle and case for a ~~new~~ brand of Polish vodka called Wyborowa. Gehry explains the appeal for an architect in designing consumer products:

I am always attracted to things that are a challenge. Its a quick fix. Architecture takes so long. Thats why you do the small stuff instant gratification.

13 comments so far (Post a Comment)

01 Feb 2005 | Austin said...

When I first glanced at the title of this entry I thought you were talking about David Heinemeier Hansson and began wondering how he got the nickname "Vodka David"

01 Feb 2005 | Andy said...

Just wanted to say that Wyborowa is not a new vodka at all, it's the kind the lorrydrivers bring over from Poland to Sweden.

I'd say this is mainly a rebrand.

01 Feb 2005 | Miguel Marcos said...

Wyborowa is an (very) old brand of vodka.
http://press.wyborowa.com/PressOffice/PressKit.909.po

01 Feb 2005 | John Dowdell said...

When I first saw your title I thought you were talking about the other big vodka story this week, with the CIA in Ukraine:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42619

02 Feb 2005 | Sunny said...

Has anybody tried the Kalashnikov one?

03 Feb 2005 | Jarkko said...

That hard-core designers design vodka bottles is nothing new, either. Tapio Virkkala designed the legendary Finlandia Vodka bottle in 1966 the model became one the symbols of Finland abroad and got first replaced just before the new millennium.

03 Feb 2005 | pb said...

Considering it's illegal in the US for vodka to have odor, taste or color, this isn't totally surprising.

03 Feb 2005 | One of several Steves said...

Uh, pb, where'd you pull that bit of BS from? There are tons of flavored vodkas on the market in the States.

And regular vodkas on sale here do have distinct flavors and aromas.

03 Feb 2005 | Don Schenck said...

I like this subject! I think I'll be feeling "scientific" this weekend!

*LAUGH*

08 Feb 2005 | andy said...

I think this test was really more about what vodkas have the most traditional characteristics of vodka, rather than just plain, "what do I like the best." It was much more like a wine contest.

I was pretty surprised that Stoli didn't "make their cut" (at least I'm assuming since they said none of the Russian vodkas did, and I would further assume Stoli was on that list). It has always seemed really "clean" to me, and extremely "balanced."

Stoli is my personal fave, but I've also always liked Smirnoff, and have always been "open" about it. I think being snobby about a spirit is just kind of silly.

Anyway...

This is a PR piece, but apparently Stoli won some medals last month in some international thing-a-ma-jig:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050111/115149_1.html

11 Feb 2005 | Mike D. said...

Thanks for the pointer to the NYT vodka study. It's very unfortunate, however, that they omitted Tanqueray Sterling Vodka from their study (and even mentioned omitting it). Tanqueray, although mainly thought of as a gin maker, produces some of the finest vodka in the world, and at reasonable prices too.

It's the only vodka I can drink straight without wincing (not that I make a habit of doing that). To me, vodka is first and foremost about neutrality and Tanqueray Sterling is the most neutral tasting vodka you can buy.

24 Feb 2005 | dzwonki polifoniczne said...

24 Feb 2005 | sms said...

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