SKYY vodka

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SKYY

Type	Vodka
Proof	80
Manufacturer	SKYY Spirits LLC
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	1992
Related products	List of vodkas

SKYY vodka is produced by SKYY Spirits LLC in San Francisco, California. SKYY Vodka is 40% ABV or 80 proof. SKYY 90 Vodka is a 90 proof high-priced brand aimed at martini drinkers.

When SKYY Spirits LLC first launched in 1992 SKYY vodka was its first product.

Its creator Maurice Kanbar writes of stories surrounding the creation of SKYY vodka in his book Secrets from an Inventor's Notebook. In the book he claims the vodka is nearly congener-free due to its unique distillation process.

The distinctive bottle is a cobalt-ish blue with a plastic label.

Currently, there are six other brands of Skyy Vodka released: Skyy Citrus, Skyy Melon, Skyy Berry, Skyy Vanilla, Skyy Orange & Skyy 90.

1 Skyy Blue
2 Manufacturing
3 Bibliography
4 Rankings
5 External links

[edit] Skyy Blue

SKYY Vodka 750ml bottle

Skyy Blue is a malt beverage made by Skyy Spirits of San Francisco and the Miller Brewing Company. Skyy Spirits teamed up with Miller to introduce the beverage. The drink had about 5% ABV and came only in 12 oz. (.355 L) bottles which came in 6 and 12 packs, and cases of 24. Miller committed $40 million to developing Skyy Blue. "Skyy Blue will provide adult consumers with spontaneous refreshment through its clean, crisp, taste," said Bob Mikulay, Miller's senior vice president of marketing. "Skyy is a well-known, sophisticated brand with a unique distillation process, recognizable packaging and meteoric growth within the spirits industry, all contributing to an established consumer base for Skyy Blue." Skyy Blue was taken off shelves a few years after its release due to poor sales.

[edit] Manufacturing

Actual production and bottling of the product is outsourced to Frank-Lin Distillers Products, Ltd, in San Jose, California.[1][2]. Frank-Lin produces approximately 4,800 different brands and sizes of alcohol products. Bulk ethanol is delivered in railroad tank cars to Frank-Lin's railroad siding near the San Jose rail yards. The ethanol is mixed with filtered and deionized water, flavoring is added, and the product is bottled using a 42-head US Bottlers Machinery Company filling machine to insure uniform product level.[3]

[edit] Bibliography

Secrets from an Inventor's Notebook, Maurice Kanbar, Penguin Books, 2001, ISBN 0-14-200056-6

[edit] Rankings

Russian Life magazine's taste off ranked SKYY vodka 9th in 1998, 6th in 1999, and 7th in 2000. In 2001, SKYY vodka did not rank in the top 16. Each year it ranked higher than Smirnoff.^{[citation needed]}

SKYY's two largest markets, after the US, are Canada and Italy.[4]