Chambord Launches Premium Pink Vodka
The flavored vodka category is getting mighty crowded with new brands and a myriad of flavor extensions from familiar brands like Smirnoff, Absolut and Ketel One. Into the fray this month enters Chambord vodka, the first line extension ever from the Loire Valley maker of black raspberry liqueur.Chambord-flavored vodka is just that. It is French vodka, distilled from grains. The Chambord Black Rasberry flavor is then infused into the spirit. The result is a 75-proof pink vodka. Pushed with an ad message of "Pink Your Drink," the idea for the vodka was driven not only by the growth of the flavored vodka market, but by the fact that Chambord was already an ingredient in several popular vodka cocktails.
Chambord Liqueur, marketed and distributed by Brown-Forman, has seen a sales slide in the last 18 months due to the decline in the on-premise business effected by the economic downturn. Flavored vodka is one of the few solid growth areas of the spirits business. Flavoring, in fact, is going beyond vodka and into whiskies. Jim Beam successfully rolled out Jim Beam Red Stag, a cherry-flavored Bourbon, in 2009.
One of the results of adding flavors to spirits, marketers, say is that the products attract a great number of women drinkers, especially young women.
Tasting notes for Chambord Vodka: Hibiscus flower with notes of vanilla, white chocolate and the distinctive flavor of the original Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur. Price for a 750 ml bottle is $24.95.
Two of the cocktails Chambord is promoting to launch the new vodka: Chambord Flavored Vodka & Club Soda and Chambord French Martini.
For the first one, just mix one part Chambord vodka with two parts club soda. For the second, mix 1 1/2 parts Chambord vodka, 1/2 part Chambord liqueur and two parts pineapple juice. Chill in a martini glass and add a black raspberry garnish.
The launch of Chambord Vodka also ushers in a new bottle for both the vodka and the liqueur. The familiar orb shaped bottle [$2 million jewel encrusted Chambord bottle] remains, but label and graphics have been updated and the neck has been made slightly longer and redesigned for easier grab-and-pour for bartenders.
