Absolut

Absolut Vodka is a Swedish brand of vodka, owned by V&S Group, and produced at their facilities near Åhus, Skåne in southern Sweden. more...

Building on a four century tradition of producing Vodka at Åhus, Absolut was introduced in 1879 by the entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith. Absolut is the third largest brand of spirits in the world after Bacardi and Smirnoff, marketed in 126 countries. The largest export market is the United States where close to 73 million litres were sold in 2003. More than 40% of the imported vodka in the USA is Absolut.

Origin of name

The name "Absolut" was introduced in 1879 by the entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith. Smith introduced fractional distillation that produces liquor without fusel oil in Sweden. The name "Absolut Renat Brännvin" (Totally Distillated Vodka) was introduced by Smith to market his much improved product. Smith challenged the city of Stockholm's liquor marketing monopoly with his superior vodka. It was sold at a lower price than the monopoly's product, just outside the city border. Smith even offered free boat rides to the distillery and "Absolut Renat Brännvin" made Smith a fortune. In 1917 the alcohol industry in Sweden was monopolized by the Swedish government. Vodka was then sold nationwide under the name "Absolut Renat Brännvin". The name of the by then rather unfashionable brand was cropped to "Renat Brännvin" in the mid 1970's. In 1979 the old name Absolut was picked up when the upper-price range Absolut Vodka was introduced.

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