Skip to main content

Vodka Delusions

Sorry, but Grey Goose is mediocre. Ditto for Ketel One. At least according to a tasting panel at the New York Times.

The tasting panel sampled 21 unflavored vodkas, mostly on the high end. But for kicks, they decided to include lowly Smirnoff in the mix. The results?
[A]t the end of our tasting it was Smirnoff at the top of our list, ahead of many other names that are no doubt of higher status in stylish bars and lounges. Some of those names did not even make our Top 10. Grey Goose from France, one of the most popular vodkas, was felt to lack balance and seemed to have more than a touch of sweetness. Ketel One from the Netherlands, another top name, was felt to be routine and sharp, although Mr. Klemm did describe it as "a good mixer."
Here were the top ten:
  1. Smirnoff United States Grain
  2. Wyborowa Poland Single Estate Rye
  3. Belvedere Poland Rye
  4. Absolut Sweden Level Grain
  5. Hangar 1 United States Straight Wheat and Grain
  6. Vox Netherlands Wheat
  7. Olifant Netherlands Grain
  8. 42 Below New Zealand Wheat
  9. Skyy United States Grain
  10. Teton Glacier United States Potato
The placebo affect [sic] is alive and well.

Comments

Mat said…
Vodka is definitely one of those products that elicit the placebo effect. They all are basically tasteless..
Look at the quote for Teton Glacier: 'Clean and light on the palate; odorless and tasteless'

For most, vodka preference is an accessory; A decoration of self that has little to do with taste, and everything to do with image.

Let's see if I can affect consumer preference even a little..

Real Austinites drink Tito's.. It's an award winning Vodka made in the heart of the Lone Star state. Try it.

http://www.titos-vodka.com/
Sat Feb 16, 08:55:00 PM 2008
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Product Managers Can Learn from the Apple iPod

The Story When Apple unveiled its iPod digital music player back in October 2001, I dismissed it as a  parity product . I already owned the Cowon iAUDIO CW100 MP3 player, loaded with my favorite tunes. There was Apple, generating great hype over the iPod as if it were a breakthrough product. The idea of a portable digital music player was nothing new. The first mass-produced MP3 players came out in 1998. In late 2001, the concept may have been new to a lot of Apple customers, but it wasn't new to me. I proudly showed my MP3 player to friends when they gushed about the iPod. Thus Apple's iPod was not an innovative product in and of itself. Years later, however, I realized the significance of ecosystem of which the iPod was a part. Apple had released iTunes (with technology purchased from  SoundJam MP ) and created the iTunes Store for finding and downloading music. Unlike Napster , it was a safe and legal way of distributing and acquiring music. The prior way of playing
2 comments
Read more

Why Spreadsheets Suck for Prioritizing

The Goal As a company executive, you want confidence that your product team (which includes all the people, from all departments, responsible for product success) has a sound basis for deciding which items are on the product roadmap. You also want confidence the team is prioritizing the items in a smart way. What Should We Prioritize? The items the team prioritizes could be features, user stories, epics, market problems, themes, or experiments. Melissa Perri  makes an excellent case for a " problem roadmap ", and, in general, I recommend focusing on the latter types of items. However, the topic of what types of items you should prioritize - and in what situations - is interesting and important but beyond the scope of this blog entry. A Sad but Familiar Story If there is significant controversy about priorities, then almost inevitably, a product manager or other member of the team decides to put together The Spreadsheet. I've done it. Some of the mos
32 comments
Read more

Interaction Design: the Neglected Skill

Your product development organization has a big, gaping hole in it. (Be prepared to feel defensive as you continue reading.) One of the most important roles in product development is the role of interaction designer. An interaction designer designs how the users will interact with the product and conceptualize the tasks they perform. He decides whether, for example, the user interface will be command driven, object oriented (clicking on objects then specifying what to do with them), or wizard based. The interaction designer decides the individual steps in the use cases. Every company has one or more people that play the interaction designer role. Usually, those people have little or no expertise in interaction design. Sadly, they typically don't even realize how unqualified they are. Let's see who typically plays the role at companies. Engineer . An engineer is an expert on building what is designed. Yes, an engineer may know how to design the internal structure of the hardware
8 comments
Read more