Animal spirits

It’s well enough known that the French would rather discuss terroir than tigers, so a French spirit — that too, a vodka — that donates part of its profits to saving the tiger in the wild is exceptional enough to be rare. Perhaps that conviction comes from Renaud Dutreil’s cosmopolitanism as a resident of New York, or maybe it’s part of his belief in contributing to the planet. Either way, it serves to muddy the waters enough so you stutter when asking why the French, so provincial when it comes to guarding the GI for their champagnes and cognacs, are delving into Soviet terrain with the Tigre Blanc.

The vodka, packaged in a beautiful bottle with the requisite stripes, sounds as though it might be a white riesling, and even though the family has traditionally produced wine and cognac, on special occasions a clear spirit from an unlabelled bottle would be opened to serve to guests. This was the “family recipe” for what it now being bottled as the first wholly Made-in-France vodka (Grey Goose, though made in France, is an American brand). And with a launch in France in November 2012, and more recently in India as part of its international promotions scheduled for 2013, it’s making a strong bid to take over what was considered Siberian gut rot, but has been refined through five distillations in copper Alembic stills that are typically used for making cognac, to create a spirit that is “feminine, delicate, fun — a women’s drink”, according to Dutreil. 

A good vodka’s charm lies in its lack of distinctive taste so that it mixes well, but in Tigre Blanc’s case, it could be the use of water from the Cognac region and its deep layers of filteration that give it an edge. “Grain alcohol,” says Dutreil, “has been part of the French tradition.” Vodka itself is not entirely new to the country, having been courted in the mid-19th century when the Russians had invaded France, making it “very fashionable” at the time, though it lost its appeal in the interim decades till it became the darling of the swish cocktail set in the new millennium.

If Tigre Blanc is being marketed as a luxury product (bottles are priced at ₹2,360 for the classic and ₹3,900 for the special editions), it’s because Dutreil believes that it is “more part of culture than economy, a bridge across cultures”. And given France’s ability to innovate and adapt, “mixing” — as in mixology — “is a very important part of the DNA of this brand”. Tigre Blanc, therefore, isn’t intended for rough guys. It is, Dutreil insists, “an elegant spirit”, a “love filter” if you will, for young consumers across India, China and Brazil as much as the European continent. 

No wonder the India launch, part of its debuts planned across key markets in Europe, North America, West Asia and Africa, where it will be available in duty free stores and in select bars, was accompanied by cocktails created by brand mixologist Ulric Nijs, using ingredients such as fruit extracts, vanilla liqueur, cream, and as an ode to India, curry leaves and rock salt. While simplicity and the ability to travel across cultures is obviously important when creating cocktails — Brazil’s caipirinha, a great favourite in bars across the world, being such an instance — “cocktail geekiness is the key to enjoying a good drink,” Nijs says. Given Tigre Blanc’s feline modishness, that’s no empty roar.  

—The author is a Delhi-based writer and curator