What would Hartwig Kantorowicz, founder Wyborowa, think of his beloved Vodka brand today? Usually when a vodka company introduces flavored concoctions like Bacon, Fruitloops, Cupcakes, Smoked Salmon, and entirely made up flavors like Peppar, they are usually taking themselves head over heels serious. At least Wyborowa Vodka (a 200-year-old Polish vodka brand) seems to be having a bit of fun with their new line of flavored vodkas called Oddka.
With flavors ranging from Electricity, Fresh Cut Grass, Wasabi, Apple Pie and Salty Carmel Pop Corn you’ll be sure to be getting drunk on your own curiosity in no time. The company states that, “each [was] designed to inspire experimentation and self-expression.” Have you ever tasted a lightning bolt? Me neither.
The best part about Oddska is perhaps the imaginary, madcap character they’ve named Witt Oddoski to serve as a mascot of sorts. With hair that stands on end (perhaps he has done some sort of suicide sampling of his own brand) Witt is a 2-D rendered, virtual incarnation of the brand itself to represent its ethos of individuality and wackiness, but I’d like to think it might be old Hartwig Kantorowicz himself come back to view the wreckage. And don’t worry, Witt is always there to help you with a series of cocktail recipes, like the “Salt Carmel Popcorn Shot” which takes a rim of coffee & sugar with a slice of orange – not so bad.
After a while you’ll start buying into the madness too, because in the end why not add a little variety to an alcoholic beverage that is nearly 700 years old. Oddka, as odd and zany as it seems, is a brilliant combination of marketing and a perfect reflection of a zeitgeist of millennials hell bent on getting drunk on anything that they can boast about on twitter. Currently, Oddka is only available in Rhode Island (of all places), but plans to the have a wider US release in Spring 2013.
