An attempt by the New Hampshire state legislature to ban the selling of Russian vodka in the Granite State failed to win approval. As reported in the Associated Press,
Senators on Thursday rejected the bill from Democratic Minority Leader Jeff Woodburn, which would've set up a commission to consider the proposal, and reconsider state retirement system investments in Russian companies.
Woodburn said it's only become clearer since he introduced the bill that the Russian government "exerted an unprecedented level of influence" in the election. He said New Hampshire ought to "seriously examine" its investments in Russian products and industry.
But had the bill gone through, exactly what sort of impact would this have had on New Hampshire imbibers (or those Mass residents who cross the border where it's cheaper)? On the one hand, it's true Americans love their vodka. It represents one-third of all spirit volumes, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Last year we went through 69.8 million cases and revenue stands at $6 billion. (By comparison, American whiskey volume is a mere 21.8 million cases even with growth at an impressive 6.8 percent.) Our love of vodka is all the more intriguing since it is by definition flavorless, odorless, and colorless—as I mention in my book Vodka: How a Colorless, Odorless, Flavorless Spirit Conquered America, which, incidentally, makes for a terrific gift and Christmas is only nine months away!
On the other hand, most of the vodka we consume is not technically Russian. The biggest-selling vodka in this country is Smirnoff and although it was first commercially distilled in Moscow in 1864, by the time it was sold to Americans in 1934, it was produced in Bethel, Conn. The kind you drink today probably comes from Plainfield, Ill. (Smirnoff is owned by Diageo.) As for the other popular brands, Grey Goose is distilled in France, Ketel One is Dutch, SKYY was born in San Francisco, Absolut is Swedish. Stolichnaya is partly Russian, partly Latvian. That might count. And fans of Russian Standard certainly would've been impacted.
But the overall minimal impact by such a boycott is best reflected in the import values, courtesy of the Distilled Spirits Council:
Russia is ranked eighth in terms of U.S. vodka imports—$16,726,300 worth last year. Compare this with top-earner France at $647,214,645, followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, Latvia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and even Finland.
In other words, that boycott would have largely been symbolic. Now how about a White Russian?
Update 2:11 p.m.: This post was updated to reflect recently provided statistics from the Distilled Spirits Council.