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

The name "Absolut" was introduced in 1879 by the entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith. Smith introduced fractional distillation that produces liquor without fusel alcohol in Sweden in 1877, under the name "Tiodubbelt Renadt Bränvin" (Tenfold Purified Vodka). Brännvin literally means "burnt wine" and is analogous to the German "Branntwein". The term is also used in Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic. ("Vodka" was not used for Swedish liquor until 1958, with the potato-based Explorer Vodka.) The name was changed to "Absolut Rent Bränvin" (Absolutely Pure Vodka) 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 "Rent Bränvin" 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 Rent Brännvin". The name changed with intervals, Renat Brännvin or Absolut Rent Brännvin. In 1979 the old name Absolut was picked up when the upper-price range Absolut Vodka was introduced.

Lars Olsson Smith -- 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.

It is an overnight success... an overnight success since 1879. It was then vodka was first sold under the name Absolut. Yet, Swedish vodka has its roots in the 15th century when Swedes first started distilling spirits called "bränvin", literally "burnt wine". Made from grain or imported wine, these spirits were originally used mostly as medicine and for making gunpowder. The first alcohol restrictions had nothing to do with sobriety; distilled spirits were needed for Sweden's war machine.

Human nature being what it is, however, people soon found spirits had a number of more recreational uses. By the 17th century, the distilled spirit that we today refer to as vodka had become a national drink. 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.

Without knowing it, Lars Olsson Smith had introduced what exactly a century later, would become Absolut Vodka.