A major marketing campaign for Boru Vodka in the United States starts this week in support of the product's US launch.

The Irish vodka company has teamed up with US distributor Shaw Ross International and in the coming year more than $1 million (€920,000) will be spent introducing the brand into five key markets in New York, Boston, New Jersey, Chicago and Florida.

According to Boru director Mr Pat Rigney, these are the traditional introductory markets for spirits in the US and they are particularly important for Boru in that nearly all have large Irish-American communities.

The campaign will put an emphasis on point-of-purchase material in bars and off-licences.

"Our packaging has already won awards and we feel that its strong design gives us a certain edge," says Mr Rigney. The brand will promote its Irishness, particularly around St Patrick's Day.

As it happens, US vodka drinkers differ from their European counterparts in that they do not automatically expect premium vodka to be Russian.

The fastest-growing vodka in the US is called Skyy, which is from San Francisco. Boru's other main competitors will be Ketle One from the Netherlands, Belvedere from Poland and a French vodka called Grey Goose.