Chocolate: The new trend in the Spirits Industry

Every year the spirit's market is creating new trends. For example last year was the trend of putting Gold chips in Vodka, Smirnoff just did a bit late, but this year sounds to be the one of Chocolate. It is a bit strange that nobody thought of this before, but in the same time it was difficult to imagine both products matching with each other.

This last month of August has been pretty intense for the launch of this type of spirits, starting with the famous Baileys liquor which legitimately after the blend of Coffee try to experiment the specificity of Cacao.

Baileys Chocolate Luxe

This is a big innovation from Baileys, which will excite numbers of chocolate fan in the world. Why that? Because it is real chocolate married with traditional Irish Whiskey. By real chocolate it means, chocolate from Cocoa Beans and not "false" chocolate issue from vegetable fat as compound.

The Chocolate is describe as "A luxurious blend of Belgian chocolate, cream and Irish whiskey which took three years to develop, the new expression was designed to replicate the experience of drinking melted chocolate"

It requires multiple experiment to find the final results, in order to find the right cocoa beans which will offer you the appropriate color and  consistency which is the key about  fine chocolate.

Stoli(chnaya) Chocolat Kokonut

If you don't already know, Stolichnaya has been the first brand to launch aromatised Vodka. To unlarge its Stoli's Indulgent range which also includes the Chocolat Razberi, Stolichnaya just launch in the UK the Chocolat Kokonut. 

For the mixigolist reading us "Stoli Chocolat Kokonut combines the natural flavours of coconut and chocolate with a smooth vodka with hints of vanilla and roasted hazelnut." This will probably influence you to propose a cocktail of the day or creat a new classic on your menu.

Mozart Chocolate Cream "R.G"

This is real discovery personnaly, before this summer I have never heard of Mozart Spirits which is an Austria-based distillery from Salzbourg. Their collection is already compose of 2 cream, 1 Liqueur and 1 Spirits.

Thanks to the  participation of chocolatier Dietmar Fadinger, Mozart create a new process which "specially developed a unique and elaborate maceration process for the liqueur, refining the cocoa macerate in Bourbon casks for at least six months."

The chocolate used is issue from Forastero and Trinitario cocoa from Ghana, recipe contain also Madagascan vanilla, cream, cocoa butter and alcohol. We can underline that using Forastero and Trinitario may be a good sign of quality, but at the end what really give the quality of a good cocoa are the know-how of the farmers and the environment of the plantation.

The final result is what Mozart Distillerie calls “a full and complex chocolate taste beautifully balanced with notes of vanilla and caramel, and a very delicate after-taste with a subtle kick of alcohol”.

Sure those differents innovations will be looked carefuly by their competitors, and we might expect from them to launch their own chocolate flavor.

Sources: spiritbusiness, baileys, mozartspirits, stolichnaya

Who owns Cîroc Vodka? Surprise it's not Diddy

In 2002 Sean "Diddy" Combs asked Busta Rhymes to "pass the Courvoisier" But nowadays be advised that he might say that if you’re not drinking Cîroc vodka while you’re reading this article, you’re not reading it the right way.

Indeed when you heard or read about Cîroc Vodka, Diddy is related to this brand. Numbers of you may think the rapper from the Queens own this vodka, or at least a part of this; but this vodka is the total propriety of the world's largest producer of spirits, Diageo.

Diageo decided to launch its ultra-premium vodka in 2003 in order to compete with the new emerging vodka in this sector such as Belvedere or Grey Goose. In order to acquire credibility in this specific market and secure the quality of its new product; Diageo decides to produces  Cîroc Vodka in France.

The name is derived from the combination of two French words, “Cime” meaning peak or summit-top and "roche" meaning rock.

The Process

The grapes used for Cîroc vodka are "snap frost" grapes; Mauzac Blanc from the Gaillac region of France, and Ugni Blanc from the Cognac region. The juice extracted from these grapes is cold fermented.

In order to be pure this juice extracted has been distilled five times, to obtain 96% purification. The final distillation is performed in a traditional Armagnac style copper pot still.

Diddy’s role

In 2007, Diageo announced that Diddy would be taking on all brand management decisions for the company’s  Cîroc vodka. In exchange Diddy receive 50% of the profits from  Cîroc. Profits means after the production/marketing and any other cost associated with producing Cîroc.  

Combs said he wanted to work with Diageo because the company understood that "I'm not just a celebrity endorser, I'm a brand builder. I'm a luxury brand builder."

This is actually seen as an excellent decision, the sales increase by 500% in only five years, and the notoriety of  Cîroc is now International, even in place where it is not marketed.

Thanks to this success, the brand introduced three other flavored varieties Red Berry and Coconut in 2010 and Peach in 2011.

Source: Billboard, Cîroc and Diageo