Gold, Diamonds and Dragons. Premium Royal Dragon Vodkas In Stunning Bottles and Package Design.

Launched just last year, Royal Dragon by Dragon Spirits Ltd. in Kowloon, is a new expression of Superior Vodka. A small batch vodka, exclusively distilled in Russia from the finest winter harvest rye. To achieve elemental softness and purity, their vodka is five times distilled, using a century old copper pot still. They offer three types; Elite, Imperial and The Emperor ‘Limited Edition’ - all in beautifully designed bottles and packaging.

Elite:

The Royal Dragon Elite is outstanding on the rocks, neat and in the mix with your favorite cocktail. The Elite Vodka is produced from the finest winter harvest rye, organically grown by trusted farmers near our distillery. It's not only the taste that impresses; also the specially designed gold dragon bottle creates a unique feeling of luxury.

Imperial:



The Royal Dragon Imperial Vodka is superior craftsmanship in all its elements. An award winning Vodka infused with the highest quality edible 23 carat gold leaves from Switzerland:


The superior taste and our exclusive hand-blown bottle, including a masterly sculpted dragon, defines the Imperial as the ultimate temptation. Royal Dragon's Imperial Vodka is available in multiple sized bottles:


The Limited Edition Emperor:


Nothing beats the allure of real gold and real diamonds and the Limited Edition by Royal Dragon Vodka, “The Emperor” a rare and distinct limited batch of 888 Masterpieces, distilled from the finest organic ingredients, has both. It's infused with edible 23 carat gold leaf and packaged with a bottle top that contains a wearable pendant of 18k yellow gold set with 35 brilliant cut and certified diamonds.



This masterly hand blown Dragon caged within a pristine glass bottle is crowned with an exquisite jewellery pendant.



The exclusive Dragon pendant of 18 carat gold is set with 35 perfectly shaped certified diamonds - an exceptional and collectable numbered and signed piece of art jewelry.



Only 888 Luxury Vodka connoisseurs will receive the prestigious Royal Dragon Vodka Membership.



The concept for the bottle design was determined by the client. Designer Nickey Khem created the brand logo and helped with parts of the bottle design.

To find distributors near you visit www.royaldragonvodka.com

SKYY Vodka and amfAR Create Special Limited Edition Velvet Flocked Bottle For The Holiday.

SKYY’s First-of-its-Kind “Flocked” Blue Velvet Bottle Will Help Consumers Give Back This Holiday Season.



SKYY® Vodka’s iconic blue bottle is donning a new festive look this winter, all in the name of the true holiday spirit. SKYY, the number-one domestic super-premium vodka in the US, and the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), one of the leading nonprofits dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic, are partnering this holiday season to launch the exclusive SKYY Vodka Blue Velvet Limited Edition Bottle.



The sophisticated, soft-to-touch bottle is flocked with an intricate, blue velvet pattern – a design element never before used in the spirits industry – making it the ideal, unique festive gift for consumers who want to give back this holiday.



“We incorporated the baroque pattern into the design because over a year ago when we began the process we felt strongly about velvet baroque patterns to connote style and elegance. However, it had never been done before so we had to innovate the technique. Fast forward to launch time for the SKYY holiday bottle, and baroque the biggest trend at all the fashion shows. So while we were planning our bottle, the big fashion houses were thinking the same thing with their clothing lines. Most of the major designers are integrating baroque details into their collections. Adding the velvet texture to the bottle made it sexy, touchable and holiday-appropriate, and fortunately, on-trend.” Says MDG Creative Director Gabrielle Rein.



“amFAR is an incredible organization that contributes greatly to the ongoing battle against AIDS,” said Jason Daniel, Brand Director, SKYY Vodka. “We are thrilled to partner with them on the Blue Velvet Limited Edition Bottle which not only showcases SKYY Vodka’s dedication to quality, innovation and style, but also our commitment to charitable giving. For holiday parties this year, we hope folks reach for the SKYY Blue Velvet Bottle as an easy and fun way to give back to their communities.”



A fashionable twist on the iconic SKYY cobalt blue glass bottle, the Blue Velvet Limited Edition Bottle makes it easy for gift givers to show their true holiday spirit in style. In honor of the partnership, SKYY has also created two festive specialty cocktails:

amfAR Holiday Spirit Martini:
3 oz. chilled SKYY Vodka
Hint of Cinzano Extra Dry Vermouth

Fill shaker with ice, add SKYY Vodka and a drop of Vermouth. Shake vigorously then pour into a chilled martini glass.

SKYY Vodka Mistletoe:
1 ½ oz. SKYY Vodka
1 oz. Raspberry Liqueur
Squeeze of Fresh Lemon Juice

Mix ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into chilled, martini glass and garnish with cranberries.

The SKYY Blue Velvet Limited Edition Bottle will be available for a limited time at liquor stores nationwide for a suggested retail price of $18.49 for 750 ml.

About amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world's leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested more than $340 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.

source: PR Newswire
images courtesy of SKYY Vodka

Absolut Exposure Puts Model Lydia Hearst Shot by Johan Renck On 3 Bottles In A Unique Traveler’s Exclusive Limited Edition.

above: image of Lydia Hearst by Johan Renck, courtesy of her twitter feed

The press release:
A unique Traveler’s Exclusive limited edition flavor celebrating the arts of photography and illusion, in creative collaboration with visionary artist Johan Renck.

On the eve of 22 October it was introduced for the first time at a glamorous sneak preview cocktail at Restaurant New York New York in Cannes — ABSOLUT EXPOSURE, the new eagerly anticipated and sensational Traveler’s Exclusive limited edition flavor from the world’s leading premium vodka brand.



ABSOLUT has pioneered the market with its previous Traveler’s Exclusive limited edition launches. ABSOLUT EXPOSURE crosses new boundaries. A new-generation flavor crafted with honey melon and lemongrass, ABSOLUT EXPOSURE is presented in a bottle with an innovative and groundbreaking technique of incorporating photography — for the first time — in bottle printing, with stunning result.



”We’re thrilled about the ABSOLUT EXPOSURE launch,” says Anders Olsson, Director of The Absolut Company Global Travel Retail. ”Both the product itself, the packaging and the campaign represents some of our core brand values — premiumness, innovation and cutting edge creativity. For a frontline brand as ABSOLUT, it’s all about constantly pushing boundaries. This launch is also yet another tribute to the brand building qualities of our global duty free/travel retail market and a proud successor of our previous groundbreaking Traveler’s Exclusive launches.”

Visionary Swedish director, photographer and artist Johan Renck has photographed actress and supermodel Lydia Hearst guised in a number of different ”personas”. Three of these characters — called Carter, Trojan and Dimitty — were selected to illustrate the multifaceted nature of every individual, adding diversity to the product offer as well as an intriguing illusory effect to store displays. By purchasing all three bottles, the consumer acquires an instant ABSOLUT limited edition collection. In addition to the images of Lydia Hearst, the bottle décor also features a bowler hat (a trademark of Johan Renck) and hands ”holding” the image, symbolizing the dual role of the artist — powerful in presence yet invisible in the work of art itself.


above: Instagram image courtesy of Lydia Hearst (that's Johan Renck with the bowler on)

”That’s the complex and schizophrenic nature of the photographic medium — being the observer, a voyeur, yet ultimately commanding the position of deciding what reality or perception of reality to project,” says Johan Renck.

ABSOLUT EXPOSURE will be launched throughout the global duty free/travel retail market in January 2013. ABSOLUT EXPOSURE will be supported by a powerful and innovative marketing campaign in all available media, including unique in-store brand installations.

A Christmas Log of Liquor. Bûche de Belvedere Vodka.

Belvedere Vodka has released a specially packaged limited edition of their Belvedere Pure in a metallic Buche de Noel for Christmas 2011. (For those who don't know, a Bûche de Noel is a Yule Log and the name of a holiday dessert made to look like a log)



«It Bûche» Belvedere has an engraved silver chromed metal sleeve embossed with a holly leaf which slides over a real birch log hollowed out to hold a 70cl bottle of their premium vodka.







Presented on an acrylic base, the hollowed out log can serve as an ice holder once the bottle is removed.



Limited to 25. Available in France only, but can be purchased online at Colette.
Buy it here

$280.31 VAT excl.
$335.25 VAT included

Talk About Your Premium Spirits. Introducing Frozen Ghost Vodka.

It seems that Crystal Head Vodka is no longer the spookiest premium vodka on the shelves. Launched last October by the Frozen Ghost Distilling Company, Frozen Ghost Vodka is a premium vodka inspired by a ghost story of a character named Tobias. His image is on the unique bottle and the story below tells you of his life and afterlife.



The Legend of the Frozen Ghost

This is a story of people whose names are lost to time, set in a location which is a sworn secret, for reasons that will become clear at the end of this tale.

Generations ago, a family in Western Canada had a proud but small farm. They raised crops and livestock so plentifully, they outproduced all the other farms in the colony. Soon, people began to realize that the spring that watered their land was the sweetest and purest in the area and was thought to be the source of their success.

A jealous neighbor schemed to divert their water to his own property. Stealing onto their land one bitterly cold winter night, he was confronted by the farm’s owner, known only as Tobias. The neighbor struck him with his shovel, knocking him unconscious into a pond near the mouth of the spring. The water thief completed his work, diverting some of the spring’s output to his property by means of the underground channel he dug.

Tobias’s body was later discovered in the ice that froze the pond deep on that frigid winter night.

No one knew how he died. The secret was safe until the neighbor began to report a strange presence of Tobias that haunted his every step. A presence that ultimately drove him mad. He confessed everything as he was driven in a prison cart to the colony’s sanitarium.

The farm has changed hands many times over the centuries, and now that same spring’s water is used to produce Frozen Ghost Vodka. That pure water gives Frozen Ghost its unparalleled smooth, crisp character, even before it is distilled six times for the ultimate purity.

We won’t reveal the spring’s location for your own protection. For on the rare occasions that a visitor has attempted to approach the site, an undeniable chill overtakes the stranger, along with a dark foreboding that a more dangerous fate quickly approaches. It is said that Tobias is still keeping watch over his spring.

So don’t let your curiosity overtake you and tempt you to search for the water’s source. Just be satisfied that you can raise a glass to the one who is watching over the pure taste of Frozen Ghost Vodka, the supernatural super-premium.




The Bottle:




Credits: Creative Director: Richard Graves ; Designer/Art Director: Chuck Paris ; Black and white photos: Butch Hale, Dallas, Texas ; Client: Frozen Ghost Distilling Company

The Marketing:
Dallas agency Levenson & Hill invented the legend based on the life—and afterlife—of a character named Tobias. Tobias is featured uniquely on every Frozen Ghost bottle, which was designed by Levenson & Hill and cast by Dekorglass of Dzialdowo, Poland. The bottles are manufactured by Bruni Glass of Milan, Italy.



The marketing launch for Frozen Ghost will include cinema (a still of which is shown above) and other mass advertising, web films, truck paints, promotions and a website for consumers of legal drinking age. The website features a menu of drink recipes, including Frozen Ghost's signature cocktail, "Apparition Chill."

"We believe that we have developed a narrative that will leave consumers haunted by a mystery that only Frozen Ghost Vodka can solve," said Andy Harmon, Chief Brand Officer of Levenson & Hill. "To trigger the imagination of consumers, we plan to unleash the ghost of Tobias, who is key to sparking consideration of Frozen Ghost Vodka. That begins with a top quality liquid and a striking on-shelf presence and is paid off with a campaign that delivers on the brand's ’supernatural-super-premium’ position."



The marketing launch for Frozen Ghost includes outdoor, featuring the phrase "Enjoy it with all 6 senses." POS will grab consumer attention with the phrase, "Grab an extra bottle. This stuff disappears fast." Delivery trucks will be emblazoned with an image of the eye-catching bottle and the phrase, "The supernatural super-premium."

Frozen Ghost Vodka

information courtesy of Frozen Ghost Distilling, special shout out to Incredible Things for bringing this to my attention.

Pavé - The Luxury Liqueur Distilled Through Real Diamonds In Amsterdam.

An interesting unique luxury liqueur that is distilled through genuine diamonds, Pavé Amsterdam - The Luxury Liqueur™, had me intrigued from the start. I did as much research as possible and even contacted the owner multiple times for details, but I didn't learn much more than I had by poking around the internet. So, I will share with you what I can.



Nowadays the word "luxury" is tossed about quite carelessly. I've been guilty of doing so in this very blog. But when it comes to a luxury liqueur, Pavé claims to be the paragon. After all, it's said to be distilled and filtered through 500 carats of the finest grade earth-mined diamonds.



Pavé, the Luxury Liqueur, is described as an ultra premium, 60 proof clear fruit liqueur infused with a distinct blend of ripened citrus, tropical and passion fruits, hints of caffeine and delicate herbal notes. Distilled from organic fruits through genuine diamonds. It is said that Pavé is designed to be a standalone drink, though it can also be enjoyed with a splash of your favorite mixer.



The company says that Pavé’s finesse is in its elaborate creation process and secret family techniques that have been passed down for generations.



The bottle design:

From their website:

The ultra-lux liqueur is encased in its proprietary rectangular bottle. Standing strikingly tall and crystal-like, the bottle is fused with metal and Swarovski Crystals. The bottle was designed by founder Moghaddam* and inspired by the diamond distillation method used to produce the delicate liqueur. A 750ml bottle of Pavé weighs nearly 5 pounds.

The distillation process:


From their website:

Pavé is the first and only liqueur distilled with diamonds. For this “diamond-distillation” process, over 500 carats of the world’s finest genuine diamonds (category: IF/VVS1 – D/E) were examined and hand-picked by experts. After an elaborate distillation, Pavé is filtered through these flawless diamonds just before bottling, using a brand new batch of gems for every distillation. This enables filtration to 1.0 microns – conventional filters, on the other hand, only filter within a range between 30.0 and 15.0 microns. This fine, high-grade diamond dust makes this possible, removing even the most minute particles and impurities from the distillate. The sophisticated process gives Pavé its exquisite softness, exceptional clarity and clean, fresh finish - a liqueur of perfect purity and smoothness.

So, who is behind Pavé the Luxury Liqueur?



Well, this is not an easy one to answer. You may have noticed that the liqueur label and logo read Pavé Amsterdam, and when I asked owner Moghaddam*, I couldn't get a specific address nor pictures of the offices or distillation location. And from my own amateur research, I couldn't find any indication that it's created, owned, distilled or distributed in or from Amsterdam, so I am taking his word for it.

*Mehran Moghaddam, is named as the founder and President of the company, the designer of the bottle and as per his Linked In profile, a young entrepreneur who received a degree in Biochemistry at UC Davis in 1996 and a masters at UC Davis in Business Management in 2005.



The links to the "media" for Pavé on their site don't work, so I couldn't see any other articles about the trademarked "luxury liqueur". And when it comes to their social media presence, they are definitely a mess. On Facebook, one of their group pages calls it Pavé Vodka, but it is not a vodka and the marketing address for that is the Idol Music Group which is in New York. The business group page on Facebook lists Amsterdam as their location, but again, no working address or link. The myspace page for Pave is sparse and neglected and hasn't been updated in over a year.

This kind of makes me doubt the diamond distillation process. After all, 500 carats of Internally Flawless (IF) diamonds with D or E color would cost millions (unless they are chips, which is possible) and a new batch is used every time? Are there armed guards standing by during the process? And who are these 'experts' who hand picked the diamonds? Unfortunately, I could not find the answers to these questions.



Regardless of the veracity of its claims, the concept has an appeal and the bottle design is aesthetically pleasing. I can't comment on the taste because it's virtually impossible to locate in a retail location or online, with one exception -- it is available through Hi Time Wine. How did I even hear about it? Pavé seems to be most commonly present at music-related launches at the hippest events and parties.

all images courtesy of Pavé Spirits and Mehran Moghaddam