When Fifth Generation, Inc., of Austin, Texas, operators of the longhorn state�s oldest and first legal distillery, decided to expand out the product line for its Tito�s Handmade Vodka by adding 200 ML and 375 ML sizes, they chose not to use traditional flask shapes, but instead decided to create the smaller bottle shapes to replicate the design of their larger 750 ML and 1L sizes.

To assist the company with this all important packaging function for its product line growth, it engaged the services and global resources of Saxco International, Inc., of Horsham, PA, renowned packaging specialists for the wine and spirits industry. The glass packaging specialty company already was the exclusive supplier of bottles for Fifth Generation, Inc.�s Tito�s Handmade Vodka.

Jerry Maya, regional sales manager for Saxco International, says that the challenge was to locate a quality bottle which would exactly replicate the larger sizes while accommodating the front labels for both smaller versions of the premium spirit. Maya explains that Saxco reached deeply into its vast world-wide glass vendor resource network and identified and sourced two quality flint bottles in 200 ML and 375 ML sizes from a reliable and cost-efficient supplier with whom Saxco had worked in the past. �They provided a perfect match to the previously produced larger cylindrical versions with a long neck,� Maya states.

According to Bryan Plater, vice president of business operations for Fifth Generation, Inc., �Tito�s Handmade Vodka is produced in small batches in an old fashioned pot still, just like high end French cognacs and fine single malt scotches. It is distilled six times using a unique technique that produces a clean spirit of incomparable excellence. These sizes let consumers try Tito�s handmade vodka and experience why it won the prestigious World Spirit Championship Double Gold Medal, besting the much larger imported vodkas.�  This super premium craft vodka is cleansed of all phenols, esters, congeners and organic acids by filtering it through the finest of activated carbons.

�In addition,� Plater relates, �We are working on plans at this moment to have these new Tito�s Handmade Vodka packages in distribution in most of the states throughout the U.S by this summer. The retail price for the 200 ML size is in the $8.00 range, while the 375 ML size will retail for approximately $12.00 a bottle.�