Vodka. It is one of Russia's biggest exports and James Bond's preferred tipple, and it is, by all accounts, taking over the world. Well, perhaps that's pushing it a bit.

Vodka. It is one of Russia's biggest exports and James Bond's preferred tipple, and it is, by all accounts, taking over the world. Well, perhaps that's pushing it a bit. But the smooth, clear liquid - the purest of all spirits - is certainly making its presence felt in the drinks market.

According to alcohol-market analysts - how about that for a job? - sales of vodka and other spirits are growing "rapidly" in the UK and elsewhere. So much so, in fact, that vodka sales in Britain are expected to overtake whisky in the next four years. Volume sales of vodka are rising at an average of more than 5.5% annually, and by 2010 are forecast to reach 8.405 million cases, says IWSR (International Wine & Spirit Record), the company responsible for the latest data.

Russian devotees would have us believe that arriving at this point symbolises a maturing in the British drinker's palate, and that they have been right about its superiority all along. However, on closer inspection, it seems there are more sophisticated reasons behind vodka's ascendancy.

The first is advertising. Since the early 1990s, vodka has been marketed energetically to younger drinkers. The strategy has worked spectacularly. As well as "plain" vodka that can be mixed with fruit juice, coke or tonic, it is available in flavoured varieties, and is contained in leading brands of alcopops such as Smirnoff Ice and Reef. Commercials draw on the romance and mystique that remains about the eastern bloc; that and trendy dance culture.

All products have to evolve to stay cool, of course, and vodka is no exception. Just consider its long association with 007. Vodka martini is Bond's drink, taken while wearing a tuxedo and chatting up a leggy beauty, helping promote the idea of the drink as sophisticated and refined. Yet its image subtly changes in the latest film, Casino Royale, when a rougher and more battle-scarred Bond orders it. He is asked the immortal question: shaken or stirred? Audiences wait in vain for the classic connoisseur's refrain. "I don't give a damn," he growls.

Next there is its composition. Vodka is so pure - and so comparatively tasteless - because no yeast remains following distillation. It is free of colourings and congeners (chemical compounds carried through the distillation process). This means it is the least likely of all alcoholic drinks to give the drinker a hangover.

And then there's the fact that, in an increasingly weight- conscious world, more and more party-goers are waking up to the fact that vodka is the least calorific of all alcoholic drinks. With approximately 55 calories per 25ml shot, plus the lesser impact on the head the following morning, is it really any wonder we're all going Russian?