In a spirit world with hundreds of brands of vodka, it’s hard to pick out the ones that are different or special. A lot of them are gimmicks, but some genuinely are marketed as a premium spirit that doesn’t need a fancy bottle or label, it’s just plain good. According to The Atlantic, Karlsson’s Vodka, an upstart brand from Sweden made from new potatoes, is attempting to be one of those brands that is able to stand out and not be a part of the gimmicky trend.
Olof Tranvik, Hans Brindfors and Peter Ekelund, the trio that made Absolut what it is today, got back together a few years ago to give vodka-making another go. Instead of making a national brand again, they went local. Ekelund, who owns a farm in southern Sweden, decided to use the excess potatoes from the neighboring potato farms for the vodka, and with the recipe from Karlsson and the marketing skills from Tranvik, Karlsson’s Gold was born.
Karlsson’s is very different from other vodka’s in that rather than being something pure, it is dirty. Karlsson’s is a blend of five potato varieties, chosen for flavor as well as terroir. Like grapes, potatoes have the imprint of soil, moisture, water quality, and temperature. The result is vodka with flavor; a pleasant, nutty and spicy flavor that comes from the potatoes themselves.
According to Tranvik, the best way to drink it is at room temperature, on the rocks, or with water, and sip.
“There’s no illusion that we don’t have a long road ahead of us,” said Ekelund. “But then, we believe that vodka will move to craft products. Otherwise, it gets boring. People like different things. You see that in beer-so why would someone behave differently when it comes to his liquor?”
