Who is this joker and why does he have a vodka? Flavor Flav has a flavored vodka, and it happens to be Bubba Gum flavored. It took almost three months to get the label approved, and so I am enjoying a vision of William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. calling in regular and increasingly anxious status checks to TTB, and arguing about font sizes.

Le Flav joins the swelling ranks of celebrity-endorsed vodka products, alongside Voli (Fergie, Pitbull), Ciroc (Sean Combs), Aftermath (Dr. Dre) and many others.

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I am pretty sure Pyotr Smirnov never envisioned this. It is peanut butter flavored vodka. It is made by Terressentia Corporation of Charleston, South Carolina. Since I am in Charleston at this very moment, and getting hungry, this seemed like a fine time to feature this product.

Temperance has a similarly flavored product. It is surprising that TTB would allow it to be described as “Peanut Butter Vodka,” unlike the above, without the key term “Flavored” in the middle. TTB is usually more likely to allow terminology like Coconut Rum as compared to Coconut Vodka (partly on the theory that confusion could otherwise arise due to the fact that vodka could possibly be distilled from coconuts, but rum could not). No word yet on vodka distilled from peanuts.

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Stolichnaya Vodka is pretty famous. And if it’s famous for anything, it’s famous for being Russian. For decades it has been glammed up as The Russian Vodka.

Over the past one to two years, however, Stoli has pretty much walked away from its Russian origin. The label on the right, from 2009, proudly proclaims Stoli’s Russian heritage and origin. By contrast, the label on the left, from 2010, sidesteps this issue. The more recent back label shows that the product is made in Latvia rather than Russia. Russia and Latvia are nextdoor neighbors, and were one and the same until Latvia regained its independence in 1991. Still, this is a big change and presents a tricky marketing challenge — that would seem to be tantamount to moving Jack Daniels production from Lynchburg to Los Angeles or Guadalajara. For such a big brand (with sales estimated near $2 billion per year) there has been surprisingly little press coverage of this issue. Back in 2006, Businessweek attempted to sort out this tale of international intrigue:

So what exactly is the row about this time? When the Russian government stripped S.P.I. of its right to the Stolichnaya brand in 2002, it also banned the company from exporting Stolichnaya vodka from Russia. That’s when S.P.I. responded by moving the bottling of Stolichnaya to Latvijas Balzams distillery in Latvia. Yet the Stolichnaya on sale in the U.S. continues to be labeled as “genuine Russian vodka.” S.P.I. and Allied Domecq testified in the U.S. court that the vodka continues to be produced in Russia, at distilleries in Kaliningrad and Tambov.

The 2010 approval also caught our eye because of the strange pairing of Baltic-Region flavored vodka with Hugh Hefner and his bunny.

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You didn’t know you needed it, but now that it’s here, can you resist Cupcake Flavored Vodka? The merger of booze plus childhood confections seems well on the way. In addition to the above, White Rock also has a Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka.

Temperance Distilling has boozed-up Chocolate Milk and an aerosolized Whipped Cream. Lawrenceburg Distillers has Bubble Gum with ethanol. The trend trundles on, with intoxicating Cotton Candy and Candy Canes.

How long until somebody bottles a decent Cereal Milk Liqueur?

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Despite the title above, it is not vodka distilled from salmon. By contrast, it is Salmon Flavored Vodka.

Most people don’t think there is a big distinction between, for example, Lemon Vodka and Lemon Flavored Vodka, but this is an important distinction in TTB matters. The former would imply that it’s vodka distilled from lemons. Which is entirely possible. No word on whether it’s possible to distill a fish. But they do make a fine smoothie. It could happen –  inasmuch as the very same Bassomatic purveyor also sells a vodka, already.

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Whipahol must be doing well, because now along comes another “Alcohol Infused Whipped Cream.”

It apparently is packed in an aerosol can. The back label says “CREAM is completely shelf stable and DOES NOT need to be refrigerated even after use.” The qualifications suggest that TTB wanted to check out this claim. This is canned by Temperance Distilling Company in Temperance, Michigan. For other advances in things whipped, there is Pinnacle Whipped – Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka.

November 30, 2010 Update:  here is a good CNBC clip on Whipahol, from yesterday. It is hard to believe that this light and frothy product can be portrayed as something sinister, and whipped up into the next “controversy in a can.”

December 8, 2010 Update:  the whipped booze products get so very much attention (including our extensive on-air interview with CBS radio) that TTB issues a statement, to explain how such products are regulated.

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Not content with simply adding coffee flavor to vodka, Vincent Van Gogh went further, all the way to “Double Caffeine.” Not so long ago, it was not clear that TTB would allow caffeine to be added to alcohol beverages, let alone to double it up and proclaim it on the label.

Van Gogh coffee flavored vodka is one of about 18 flavored vodkas made in Holland and imported by Luctor International of Orlando, Florida. The other caffeinated spirit above is Volta. It is Vodka Infused with Caffeine, Guarana, Taurine & Yerba Mate, made by White Rock Distilleries of Lewiston, Maine.

Van Gogh Double Espressso is easy to find at retail, but Volta is less easy to find. All the extra caffeine may have gotten this retailer a bit over-excited; IWS describes it this way:

Double Intensity. Experience the finest tradition of Venice with the high art of great taste. … Delivers a wealth of flavor for those who expect more from their coffee – powerful yet sophisticated, with the stronger and richer character demanded by the espresso lover’s highly developed palate. Here is all the smooth brilliance of great caffé, in the only FDA-approved vodka on the market today with the bold touch of double caffeine.

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We’ve come a long way, from clay pots to glass bottles to steel cans to . . . the bag-in-box. The bag-in-box came to wine about 10 years ago and Franzia took it and ran with it (Franzia’s website and labels say it’s “The World’s Most Popular Wine.”). But much more recently, the box has come around to package beer and spirits.

Sam Adams Twisted Tea is packed in a 1.3 gallon Cardboard Keg. The box says the beverage will stay fresh for up to 30 days after opening, and that’s pretty good for a beer product. The product is classified as a malt beverage with natural flavors.

Turning to spirits, the Sauza Margarita is packed in a 1.75 liter bag-in-box. It is classified as a spirits cocktail, made with tequila and triple sec.

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Here we have a bit of a condiment theme. Above is horseradish flavored vodka. And here is pickle flavored vodka. Probably not what your grandfather drank, back when vodka was vodka and pickles had little to do with it.

At this point, we would guess that there are well over 75 flavors of vodka, above and beyond the common citrus and pepper flavored vodkas.

Michel Roux correctly forecast this trend way back in 1996. The article is entitled “The future, according to the marketer of Stolichnaya, will be filled with flavored vodka.” Roux is frequently cited as the marketing force behind the rise of Absolut, Stolichnaya, Absente and many other brands.

Garant Pickle Flavored Vodka is made in Russia and imported by Interbalt of Maryland. Natsionalnaya Horseradish Flavored Vodka is also made in Russia and is imported by Devo Enterprises of Horsham, Pennsylvania. How much longer until we have ketchup, mustard and wasabi flavored vodka?

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Wait no longer; bacon flavored vodka is here. The company says:  “Yes, Bacon Vodka. Bakon Vodka is a superior quality potato vodka with a savory bacon flavor. It’s clean, crisp, and delicious. This is the only vodka you’ll ever want to use to make a Bloody Mary, and it’s a complementary element of both sweet and savory drinks. ”

Dozens of blogs chronicle the public’s fascination with bacon, from the bacon suitcase, to the bacon bra, to . . . bacon flavored vodka. Salon attempts to explain why bacon is such a huge phenomenon:

Americans have a guilty relationship with food, and perhaps no food is more guilt-inducing than bacon — forbidden by religions, disdained by dietitians and doctors. Loving bacon is like shoving a middle finger in the face of all that is healthy and holy while an unfiltered cigarette smolders between your lips.

“Bacon has the perfect balance of sweet, salty, smoky flavor, and the perfect balance of meaty and crispy texture,” says James Villa, the author of “The Bacon Cookbook.” “It’s the most perfect food ever created by the gods.”

John T. Edge, author and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, says, “Bacon is a sort of 21st century tattoo, a marker that declares the wearer to be a badass, unbeholden to convention.”

The bacon-beverage connection may be stronger than previously assumed. Aside from Bakon, we have seen many other alcohol beverages featuring various meats. This blog covers bacon and beer, and Dan Philips founded both a great wine company and a premium bacon company. He has said:  “Bacon is sex in a skillet. … It’s the ultimate aphrodisiac for all living things. Except pigs, of course.”

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