Will You Be Shopping At Boots This...
News1 min ago
Vodka
5 Answers
Our local co-op late shop has started selling a 70cl bottle of Vodka that is 22% proof! it tastes just the same as the 37.5% I may have previously purchased, is this a new innovation to get peopel to drink less intoxicating alcohol?
Answers
1 to 5 of 5
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by dot.hawkes. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
Probably not! It's far more likely to be a way to be able to advertise vodka at lower prices than competitors charge for 'ordinary' brands.
The excise duty on a bottle of 37.5% abv vodka is �5.50. The duty on a bottle of the 22% stuff is only �3.23. Because there's also a saving on the VAT which is charged on top of the duty, Gordon Brown receives a total of �2.67 less when the Co-op sell a bottle of the 22% brand than when they sell the 'full-strength' stuff. Hence the Co-op can advertise cheaper vodka.
To be fair to the Co-op, they're the only major retailer to give information about safe drinking (including the number of units per glass) on the labels of their own-brand alcohol products. I still doubt, however, that the reason for stocking this lower-alcohol vodka really has much to do with encouraging responsible drinking.
Chris
The excise duty on a bottle of 37.5% abv vodka is �5.50. The duty on a bottle of the 22% stuff is only �3.23. Because there's also a saving on the VAT which is charged on top of the duty, Gordon Brown receives a total of �2.67 less when the Co-op sell a bottle of the 22% brand than when they sell the 'full-strength' stuff. Hence the Co-op can advertise cheaper vodka.
To be fair to the Co-op, they're the only major retailer to give information about safe drinking (including the number of units per glass) on the labels of their own-brand alcohol products. I still doubt, however, that the reason for stocking this lower-alcohol vodka really has much to do with encouraging responsible drinking.
Chris
I was under the impression that all vodka sold in the EU had to be a minimum of 37.5% ABV. This was just something I read once, and have never had corroborated though.
I know the reason the ABV on certain products (e.g. Smirnoff Red, Gordon's) was reduced from 40% was for the saving on excise duty. I assume this EU law (if it does exist) was just a measure to prevent local tax laws further affecting the quality of such products, which could be sold to export.
I once saw a bottle of somethig similar to vodka with an ABV of 30%. I'm sure it was described as something along the lines of "Imperial Russian Spirit" or similar, and not vodka.
1 to 5 of 5
