Heublein

Heublein Advert for their bottled "Club Cocktails", circa. 1904

Historical References

Time Magazine, 5th April 1937

"Died. Gilbert F. Heublein, 87, founder of Hartford, Conn.'s Heublein Hotel and G. F. Heublein & Bro. (A1 Sauce, liquors); of arteriosclerosis; in Hartford."

Time Magazine, 1st January 1965

"Heublein's market researchers, who go in for a lot of bar-hopping to find out what Americans drink, believe that there is an increasing trend to drinks in which the whisky taste is either disguised or nonexistent. This theory is behind the biggest ingredient in Heublein's success: vodka. The company paid a White Russian $14,000 for his Smirnoff distillery in Bethel, Conn., in 1939, but did not really decide until the 1950s to convert whisky-drinking Americans to the almost tasteless drink.

Through intensive publicity and clever advertising ("It leaves you breathless"), Heublein succeeded with Smirnoff far beyond its hopes. Vodka somehow appealed to youth, seemed lighter and thus less fattening (it isn't), and was so versatile that it could be mixed in anything from a Bloody Mary to a Russian Virgin (vodka with a whisper of Cointreau). It has been the fastest-growing liquor in the U.S. for the past five years and now accounts for 70% of Heublein's total sales; Smirnoff has also become the fourth biggest seller among all liquor brands in the U.S."