The Wine Reference🍷 SupportSweden: Vodka and aquavit
Sweden has a long tradition of 'brännvin', clear spirits drunk with food, and is home to Absolut, one of the world's best-known vodkas.
How it's made
Grain is fermented and distilled in continuous column stills to a very pure spirit, then cut with water.
Winter wheat is milled, mashed and fermented, then distilled continuously in tall column stills to a very high, clean strength. It is cut with soft local water before bottling.
History
Swedes distilled 'brännvin' from grain, and later potatoes, from the 1400s, and it became so common that the state took control of production and sales. Absolut was launched in 1979 for export and became a global brand.
Ageing and label terms
Vodka is not aged. Swedish aquavit is usually clear and unaged, flavoured with caraway, dill, fennel or anise; some brands rest briefly in oak.
Styles
Clean wheat vodkas lead, alongside flavoured vodkas and caraway- or dill-led aquavit, the traditional 'snaps' for holiday tables.
Rules and protected names
'Svensk Vodka' and 'Svensk Aquavit' are EU geographical indications and must be made in Sweden. Vodka must be at least 37.5% ABV in the EU.
How to serve and classic cocktails
Serve ice cold in small glasses with food, or mix: classic cocktails include the Cosmopolitan, Moscow Mule and Vodka Martini.
With food
Pickled herring, gravlax, crispbread with cheese, crayfish at August parties and the Christmas smörgåsbord.
Good to know
At Midsummer and Christmas, Swedes sing short drinking songs, 'snapsvisor', before each glass, starting with 'Helan går'.
Producers
- Absolut
- O.P. Anderson
- Purity
Bottles to try
Absolut Vodka
Clean and full: soft grain sweetness, a hint of dried fruit and a peppery finish.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: Unaged
Made in and around Åhus in southern Sweden from local winter wheat and well water, using continuous distillation. Launched in 1979, it takes its name from Lars Olsson Smith's 'absolutely pure' vodka of 1879.
Serve: Ice cold, in a Cosmopolitan or Moscow Mule
O.P. Anderson Aquavit
Caraway leads, with anise and fennel seed and a clean, spicy finish.
Strength: 40%
Sweden's classic aquavit since 1891, flavoured with caraway, anise and fennel; rested before bottling and a fixture of Swedish snaps songs and festive tables.
Serve: Chilled in small glasses with herring, crayfish or the Christmas table
Absolut Elyx
Silky and full-textured, with white bread, cereal sweetness and a hint of pepper.
Strength: 42.3% · Age and cask: Unaged
Single-estate winter wheat from Råbelöf near Åhus, distilled in a vintage 1921 copper column still; the luxury sibling of standard Absolut.
Serve: Straight from the freezer or in a very dry Martini
Hernö Swedish Excellence Gin
Juniper and lemon with meadowsweet, lingonberry and black pepper.
Strength: 40.5% · Age and cask: Unaged
From Hernö, founded by Jon Hillgren in 2012 at Dala near Härnösand as Sweden's first dedicated gin distillery. Botanicals are steeped for 18 hours before slow distillation in copper stills.
Serve: Gin and tonic with lemon peel
More vodka regions
Explore all spirits in the interactive guide
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