From this weekend onwards, you will no longer be able to order a Malibu rum, Jameson whiskey, or Absolut vodka. According to Le Monde, the Svenska Brassierer Group, which owns this establishment, has decided not to sell any spirits from the French group Pernod Ricard.

The reason for this is the resumption in 2022 of the exports of Absolut, the vodka distilled at Ahus in southern Scandinavia.

A spokesperson for the spirits group Pernod Ricard confirmed the news on April 13.

Since then, the calls for a boycott in Sweden have multiplied. Even Prime Minister Ulf Kriterson has reacted by admitting to TV4 that Pernod Ricard made a “very surprising” decision. Ulf Kristersson added, “I think many users find Pernod Ricard’s decision to be very strange.”

Pernod Ricard issued a statement saying that it had stopped exports to Russia following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. However, the company continued to sell its stock.

After they were exhausted the group resumed exports. Pernod Ricard claims that by keeping its business in Russia, it was able to avoid accusations of a “fraudulent bankruptcy” and “protect their employees in Russia”.

The arguments are not convincing: the last message on the Twitter account for the Swedish vodka on April 10 received more than 400 comments. On Monday, April 17, the French alcohol giant was accused of “drinking up to the health and genocide”.

One of the most popular images was a fake Absolut ad, which showed a Ukrainian city being bombarded from the air, with the slogan “boycott Absolut” crossed out.

On the Facebook page for Systembolaget (the state-owned alcohol monopoly in Sweden), there are also calls to remove the other alcohol products from Pernod Ricard and Absolut. This issue has not yet been decided.

The regional museum in Kristianstad in the south of the country decided to cancel an exhibition that was to be dedicated this summer to the “Absolut fashion” collection, which was created by the largest fashion designers in partnership the brand.

The French newspaper “Tribune”, reported that the Swedish government announced a privatization procedure at the beginning 2008 for the vodka producer “Absolut”.

Mats Odel confirmed that the spirits manufacturer was on the list of companies owned by the state to be divested in 2009

The bottle is more important than the drink itself in determining the popularity of a brand.

It is made from a special sand that contains little iron. This material gives the glasses maximum transparency.

The current shape is based on the apothecary bottle sold in Sweden during the last century.

In Sweden, alcohol production and sales are a monopoly. V&S (Vin & Spirit), a wholly-owned state company, was established in 1917 and operates on the Swedish Market.

The Absolut Company, founded in 1895 to market the brand, is also included in the composition.

The Canadian company Seagram owns the distribution rights to the Absolut brand in the world (except Sweden). Seagram also sells other famous brands of concentrated spirit such as Chivas Royal whiskey, Martel Cognac, etc.

Absolut is the world’s second-best-selling vodka after Diageo Smirnoff.

Since its founding in 1917, the company has been very sensitive to sales due to Sweden’s efforts at limiting alcohol consumption.

The USA is the largest market for “Wine & Spirit”, where “Absolut”, the most imported vodka, is the largest.

The history of “Absolut”, as we know it today, began in the 19th century. Lars Olsson Smith, the “King” of Vodka in Sweden and entrepreneur-inventor, puts this product into production. Absolute Rent Branvin (Absolutely Pure Vodka) is the name he gave the new drink to emphasize its purity. Smith had invented rectification, a method of alcohol extraction that was revolutionary at the time.

The method is not the same as brewing brandy or whiskey. The alcohol is distilled using a column similar to the one used for distilling petroleum products. Pure 95 percent alcohol emerges at the top. The spirit is diluted with water and then filtered through a carbon filter to soften it.

Since then, hundreds of different types of vodka are produced around the globe using similar technology. Lars Olsson Smith’s discovery is the core of the European Parliament’s dispute, which has been raging for several months. Scandinavian countries, including Poland, insisted that vodka was only a drink that could be made from grains, potatoes or beet sugar.

By rectification it is possible to obtain pure alcohol from any agricultural crop – grapes, vegetables, fruits, etc. – from which 95-degree-alcohol can be obtained.

Modern distillation and rectification technologies allow vodka to have a taste so pure that it loses the taste of the original raw material. Absolut uses a technology that is parallel to the main distillation process to create spirit with the taste of wheat, the raw material used for this type of vodka.

Absolut’s base is 95% alcohol, with a mild taste. The alcohol is diluted with water from a factory-owned water source, bringing the alcohol content to 40%.

Each bottle of vodka is 2300 kcal, and is made up of only alcohol and water. One liter of vodka is made from 907 g or 24,000 wheat grains. A small vodka contains 4,330 grains. The vodka distillation process takes 300 hours.

The world’s two most popular vodkas, “Smirnoff”, and “Finland”, are also made from grain with a similar process.

Since the communist era, the Russian “Stolichnaya”, the third greatest vodka, has been produced in many different places in Russia using different technologies and raw material, creating a certain distrust of the brand. There are also many fakes of this brand made in Russia.

The three biggest vodkas, “Absolut”, ‘Finland’ and Smirnoff”, are distinguished by their purity and the use of a charcoal filter. More than 20 different types of charcoal (birch, etc.), are produced around the world. The technology used to produce the charcoal is also different, and this is especially important for vodka production.

Photo by tre’s visualz