Ashwin Deo with bottles of Belvedere after its launch in New Delhi. (AFP)

New Delhi, Oct. 18: It is a vodka meant not so much to fill as to flaunt.

Moet Hennessy India today launched Belvedere, the most expensive vodka in this part of the subcontinent. At Rs 2,600 for a 700 ml bottle, connoisseurs in Calcutta can savour it in January, in its second phase of rollout.

Ashwin Deo, the managing director of Moet Hennessy India, said: ?Belvedere will be available in Calcutta, Pune, Goa, Chennai and Hyderabad in the second phase of its rollout. In the first phase, the luxury vodka is being launched in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore at present.?

Even within these cities, the luxury vodka will have to wait to hit the retail shelves if the states are not ready with the excise laws.

In such markets, as in Delhi, it is the five-star hotels, pubs and upmarket restaurants where the brand will make its presence felt, said Deo.

However, the drink is for the ?discriminating enthusiast?, he added.

Explaining the term, Deo said it is not only meant for the connoisseur, but those who are keen to demonstrate their great taste and status. By the way, Bryan Adams, George Clooney and Jude Law are just some of the international celebrities who swear by Belvedere, he added.

Stating that it is the first time a luxury vodka is being introduced in India, Deo said when Belvedere was introduced in the American market in 1996, it created the category of luxury vodka. This Polish vodka is a single grain one made from gold rye. Distilled four times, it is produced in the plains west of Warsaw.

Deo estimates that the super premium market for liquor in India is about 500,000 cases. Of these, imported premium and super premium vodka account for about 15,000 cases. ?Belvedere will be introduced to the most influential of Indian consumers,? said Deo.

?At present, importing Belvedere in India means paying a duty of 216 per cent. It has come down from about 700-800 per cent duty that one had to pay on imported liquor in 2001 when Moet Hennessy entered India, further rationalisation in duty can go a long way in the proliferation of the brand,? said Deo.

Moet Hennessy India is part of the leading luxury goods group, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, with a turnover of 12 billion Euros in 2003. The company is present in the Indian market through its champagnes, cognacs and wines.