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Send to KindleVodka served at this art gallery
Securing the rights
Returning to Van de Velde’s concept his first question was: How do you penetrate the consumers’ minds with a recognizable name that stands for Dutch top quality expensive a true classic? “Everybody knows Van Gogh” he points out.
However adds Hardenbrook it took two trademark attorneys to secure the rights for Luctor to use the name and the reproductions of the paintings. “It was a major battle to secure the rights for the name and the artwork for spirits products” says Van de Velde.
The story of the package is a compelling one. “We had so many obstacles to overcome to create this package” recalls Van de Velde. “For example how can you screen print 16 colors on the bottle when it takes time to dry the paints each time? So we had to come up with special pigments that would dry more quickly but with tight tolerances so the pictures would be perfect renditions of Van Gogh’s work. The tolerance is less than one-half millimeter” he says.
The custom bottle itself was a challenge. It’s made in Germany says Hardenbrook because it’s the only European country that doesn’t mix colors when glass is recycled. And clarity is critical for a design that uses the crystal clarity of the bottle and product to show through the graphics printed on the circumference.
Then there was the issue of the square shoulder. “Typically a square-shaped shoulder makes a glass bottle weak there. So our bottlemaker had to come up with a process design so the shoulder would be strong enough to accommodate stacking in cases. This was a technical achievement” Van de Velde says.
Etching & decorating
Once the bottle is produced in Germany it travels to France for acid-etching a process that virtually all premium vodkas seem to employ.
While etching has become a standard Luctor’s products are among relatively few that require a crystal-clear window. Thus says Hardenbrook the French company developed a system for applying a plastic base film to the window area that protects the flint glass from the acid bath yet burns off later in an oven to reveal the clear glass window.
Next the etched bottle travels to Belgium where artisans apply the 16 colors via screen printing. At the same company an 18-carat gold band is also applied around the bottle. Once decorating is complete the bottle is shipped to Dirkzwager Distillery (Schiedam the Netherlands) which produces the product and fills the bottles under exclusive contract.
The final country involved is Portugal where a special cork and process had to be created. A little piece of cork in a bottle of wine isn’t terribly unusual Van de Velde says but he realizes it’s unlikely anyone would buy a clear spirit with little pieces of cork floating in it. “It would appear the product was dirty or filtration didn’t work properly.” The American consumer wants a cork in a premium product like this he adds but the alcohol attacks the cork. So a special patent-pending process to treat the cork had to be developed so pieces will not break off.
Costly but necessary
Van de Velde is understandably proud of the product’s five-star rating and its 94 score from Wine Enthusiast. So that completes his “wow” trifecta. “We’re selling not just a spirit we’re also selling image. Today Americans use packaging as extensions of an individual’s identity. In the liquor business it’s packaging packaging packaging.”
His goal he says without caution was to create the ultimate spirits products in the ultimate package. “I knew it was going to cost a lot of money but I feel it’s the ultimate for today. That’s why I felt the Vincent Van Gogh name the pictures on the package the product inside everything had to be perfect” says Van de Velde. “I think we did that.”
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