Master of Wine and wine buyer for Forth Wines This has a clear colour with large bubbles. It has a slightly medicinal nose and is reminiscent of tonic and lime peel. It seems fairly innocuous in the mouth and is probably more alcoholic than it seems. It is like very weak vodka and tonic. It is rather like lemonade and the packaging implies something more exciting. I can't say I dislike it, it is quite harmless. But I won't be rushing out to buy it either. It is slightly disappointing. It is not great but there is a lot worse out there. It is better than the blackcurrant and pear Source we tried. Success rating out of 25 ­ 15 THE DESIGNER Matt Thompson Associate director of Blackburn's, a brand packaging designer Harnessing the kudos of the vodka swilling Great Russian Bear is potentially a winner. Unfortunately, this looks like another case of design by research. What does Soviet mean to you? Hammer and sickle, tick. Proud workers of the Motherland, tick. That film with Sean Connery, tick. All appropriate, but not revolutionary. Research favours the predictable pack ­ but usually at the expense of the unexpected. Surely, to make this really desirable and credible for the no nonsense youth market, it must look as though it's come from Stalingrad. Not Witney. Success rating out of 25 ­ 9 THE BUYER Adam Marshall Licensed trading controller at Nisa-Today's Firstly, I think I would have launched this in October, at least then it would have some relevance, and even a bit of a story to tell. The cynic in me suggests that maybe the packaging was late! But it was probably not worth the wait, as it is really nothing special. The colours all look dull (is this deliberate?) and the brand manages to look like an own label ­ in a bad way. As for the liquid. Imagine a half full plastic bottle of lemonade, left on the back seat of the car in the sun for two weeks. That's it... mmm, lovely. Success rating out of 25 ­ 5 Total score out of 100 ­ 46 {{DRINKS }}

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