Germany's premium vodka now in India

MUMBAI: The Kishore Chhabria-spearheaded Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD) and Germany's Henkell and Sohnlein Sektkellereien KG Wiesbaden have jointly launched premium vodka, Wodka Gorbatschow, in the country.

"The companies have entered into a 50:50 joint venture and for the first time Wodka Gorbatschow would be produced outside Germany," Henkell and Sohnlein Chairman and CEO of the Board of Directors, Hans Henning Wiegmann, said.

The joint venture would be named Henkell and Company India Pvt Ltd, he said.

Henkell's global reach spans over 10 countries with subsidiaries in Central Europe and to more than 70 export markets all around the world.

The other international brands of the Group are Henkell Trocken, Deinhard, Mionetto, Champagne Alfred Gratien, Furst Von Metternich and Sohnlein Brillant.

"The brand would be locally bottled at ABD's Aurangabad plant (in Maharashtra) and priced at Rs 570 for a 750 ml bottle. The brand is now available in premium ranges at all leading licensed liquor stores in Mumbai and Pune," Wiegmann said.

"Beginning August, we plan to launch it in Delhi and later by the month-end in Kolkata. Then we have plans to launch it in Bangalore and after that on a pan-India basis," ABD Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO Deepak Roy said.