How can you help save snow leopards? By drinking vodka!

How would you like to save an endangered snow leopard while drinking some good vodka?

That, essentially, is the general idea behind Snow Leopard vodka, a premium vodka brand that donates 15% of its profits to snow leopard conservation projects in Mongolia, China, India and Kyrgyzstan.

“We have been able to donate over US$200,000 (RM805,450) to the trust via sales and other initiatives,” said Snow Leopard founder, Stephen Sparrow, adding that the goal is to raise over US$1mil (RM4mil), which would be a significant step in removing the snow leopard from the critically endangered list.

The story of Snow Leopard began in 2005, when during a trip to the Himalayas, Sparrow learnt first-hand about the quandary of the snow leopards, which are facing extinction unless more is done to conserve their habitat. This led him to set up The Snow Leopard Trust UK and Snow Leopard Vodka.

According to Sparrow, who was in town recently to officially launch the spirit in Malaysia, the reason he decided to make a vodka instead of any other spirit was because it just seemed like the right fit.

“The name, Snow Leopard, just fits a vodka – cold, mountainous, powerful, elegant, smooth. We also needed to be doing enough volume to be able to donate the 15% of the profits to the charity, and vodka was the spirit that has more potential to do that. I also have experience working with vodka with other brands,” he said.

He decided to make the vodka in Poland because of the country’s long and rich history of making premium vodkas.

“When you want to make a premium vodka, you go to Poland,” he said. “It gives consumers confidence that they are drinking a spirit made by people who really know what they are doing.”

He started small, often delivering bottles of vodka to bars around London on his bicycle, but the brand eventually grew stronger as word of its quality and drinkability spread.

Stephen Sparrow personally delivered bottles of vodka on his bicycle in the early days of Snow Leopard Vodka.

In 2006 and 2010, the Beverage Tasting Institute awarded Snow Leopard Vodka with its Gold Medal and named Snow Leopard the ‘Vodka Master’ in 2010; while the vodka picked up the Gold Medal at the 2014 International Spirits Challenge in London.

Snow Leopard is the first ultra-premium vodka to be made from spelt grain, the oldest and unclouded grain in the world, which Sparrow says gives the vodka a soft mouth feel, more character, and a bouquet of aromas ranging from floral to anise notes and a full bodied creaminess on the palate.

“I wanted it to be a vodka with character, doesn’t taste neutral, has a bouquet of aromas, a good body… it’s got to have taste and quality,” he said. “I also wanted a vodka that could be made into a good martini, because in America the number of martinis sold is crazy, and to be successful, it had to do well in America.”

Besides the spelt grain, the vodka is also made with artisan-drawn water and distilled six times before being twice filtered over charcoal.

In 2013, the Edrington group took a majority stake in Snow Leopard Vodka to facilitate its global distribution, and happily, remain committed to Snow Leopard’s original cause.

The money raised through sales of the vodka is channeled to various projects, ranging from supporting local herders to providing economic enterprise programs for local women, and have a direct impact on changing perceptions, educating local communities, and driving the ultimate aim of protecting the snow leopard.

“We’ve got an ongoing purpose. It’s not a flash in a pan for us – we’re committed to snow leopard conservation. We believe that the consumer would prefer the planet to have snow leopards still living in the world when their children inherit the world,” he said.

Source : Star2.com