Absolut Vodka is 130 years old

Absolut was introduced in 1879 by the entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith.  Smith challenged the city of Stockholm’s liquor marketing monopoly with his 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 “Rent Bränvin” made Smith a fortune.

Gunnar Broman, head of Sweden’s top ad agency, traveled to New York in 1978 to sell a locally produced vodka that didn’t yet exist. The very idea of Swedish vodka was an oxymoron at the time, anyway, for everyone knew back then that real vodka came exclusively from Russia. Sweden had been distilling the beverage since 1467, though, and Broman had a briefcase full of ideas with him on the trip for pushing a soon-to-be-developed version in the U.S. He brought plenty of slides along to illustrate them, and even had several solid plastic bottles made up to demonstrate exactly how they would look on store shelves. One, in particular, captured the New Yorkers’ attention: a plump vessel with “no label, no decorations, and no neck.” Etched on its otherwise totally clear container, in pure silver, was the legend “Pure Absolut Vodka.” Someone joked that it looked like a sterile medicine bottle, but the Americans’ interest was piqued. And, with it, Absolut Vodka was on its way.