The King of Vodka

Absolut Vodka is a contemporary phenomenon. First exported in 1979, Absolut Vodka quickly soared to one of the best-selling premium vodkas in the world today.

The phenomenal success of Absolut Vodka has only one precedent: the success of the man who introduced it.

Successful businessman at 10 and entrepreneur at 14, Lars Olsson Smith controlled one third of all the vodka in Sweden while he was still learning to shave. For almost half of the 19th century he was known as "The King of Vodka". In 1879, he introduced a new kind of vodka called "Absolut Rent Bränvin" (Absolute Pure Vodka) produced using a revolutionary new distillation method. The method was called rectification, a method we still use today.

A Swedish Medicine Bottle Becomes The Latest in Glass Design

Advertising man Gunnar Broman was looking through an antique shop window in Stockholm's "Old Town" when he saw an old Swedish medicine bottle, a cultural icon was unchanged for more than a hundred years. The bottle was elegant, different, simple and very Swedish. In the 16th and 17th centuries vodka had been sold in pharmacies as medicine to cure everything from colic to the plague.

The choice was a stroke of genius. Several Swedish designers were given the job of helping the Absolut Vodka team further develop the bottle.

It had been decided that there should be no label to hide the crystal clear contents. After much discussion and several prototypes the team came to the conclusion that some kind of colored lettering was required. Blue was decided upon as a the most visible and attractive color, the color that is still used today for the famous Absolut Vodka logo.\

Record-Breaking Success

By 1982, Absolut Vodka had passed a major Finnish competitor that had entered the US market ten years earlier! In 1985, the biggest Russian competitor was overtaken, making Absolut Vodka the leading imported vodka in the US.

The same year, just six short years after the first sales in Boston, Absolut Vodka made its way into the top 100 most sold spirits in the world, according to an international trade magazine. Since 1994, Absolut Vodka has been ranked among the top ten international premium spirits brands.

Absolut Vodka Around the World

After its success, both in its home country and in the US, Absolut Vodka was introduced in most European, Asian and Pacific countries starting in the mid-80's.

Growth in Europe has proven to be different from the US; every country has its own firmly entrenched drinking traditions, its own culture and language.

According to Absolut.com: Since its launch in 1979, Absolut has achieved significant worldwide sales growth from 10,000 nine-liter cases to 7.3 million nine-liter cases in 2001. 400,000 bottles of Absolut are produced every day. Absolut is now available in 125 markets. (source: The Absolut Company/V&S Vin & Sprit AB)