Reno-based importer fights to gain position for its vodka

Don Manoukian, owner of Knight International LLC, says a new brand of imported vodka that's garnering rave reviews from vodka aficionados has the potential to become the next big international brand and provide a huge growth in sales for the Reno-based spirits company.

Knight is the sole U.S. importer of Premium Gera Vodka, which is manufactured by A.B. Alita, a well-known Lithuania company that also makes beer, wine soft drinks and fruit juices.

Manoukian, who made a name for himself as a professional wrestler and by playing one year with the very first Oakland Raiders football team, says he landed the exclusive U.S. contract after tasting Premium Gera Vodka and flying to Lithuania to further investigate A.B. Alita and its distillery.

"I have never tasted a better, purer, smoother vodka, and I was asked if I would assist with the development of that brand in the U.S.," Manoukian says.

And that's no small task, he admits. The vodka market is extremely saturated with well-established brands, and Manoukian says the liquor market is tougher now than at any point in the past 40 years.

Knight International currently has the product placed in 10 states and is licensed in another 10.

"It is a very new product, but with its quality and price point it is extremely competitive," Manoukian says. "This is the ultimate sleeper that will become one of the major brands in the U.S. and internationally; it is too good not to be recognized. People who drink it and taste it can't believe the quality and price. We just need that exposure, and in this market that takes a while."

Manoukian says sales of Premium Gera Vodka will be bolstered by placement into states with large populations centers such as California, Texas, New York and New Jersey.

Locally, the northern Nevada distributor of Premium Gera Vodka says tastings have helped place the liquor into Ben's Discount Liquor, Scolari's Food and Drug and Whispering Vine.

Mark Baldwin, owner of Encore Beverage in Reno, says Premium Gera Vodka is his second stab at selling hard liquor (Encore Beverage typically focuses on distributing fine wines and hand crafted beers). Baldwin says Encore is well positioned to market the brand and make it stand out among a flood of competitors due to its relatively small size compared to large spirits distributors in the region.

"Big companies have a tough time paying attention to the little products they have a lot of the bigger brands," he says.

Encore has focused on grassroots efforts, such as tastings, to convince buyers and bar owners to stock the brand.

"Tastings have been helpful. If you can support the account and tell them that although it is a new vodka, and there are 100 vodkas out there, we will do all the tastings and will tell the story. You need to get people to taste the product."

Premium Gera Vodka won the Platinum Medal at the 2011 International Review of Spirits hosted by Chicago's Beverage Testing Institute this month. Premium Gera Vodka scored a 96, the highest score ever in the $25 a bottle and under category.