Absolut Wild Berri is a Swedish flavoured vodka bottled at 38% ABV, built around the natural aromas of wild berries. The producer, The Absolut Company, describes it as offering the natural flavour of freshly picked blueberries, blackberries and wild strawberries, combined with spicy accents on the palate.
The vodka is made at the brand's home, Åhus in southern Sweden. The base is a spirit made from locally sourced Swedish winter wheat, pure Swedish water and natural flavourings; the grain is milled on site and the vodka is continuously distilled. One feature of the recipe is worth highlighting: only natural flavourings are used in production, with no added sugar.
Characteristically, the fruity, ripe nose promises more sweetness than actually appears on the palate. The aroma is intense ripe strawberries with cassis, ripe blackcurrant and floral violet. On the palate, a dry, grainy vodka with notes of cassis, juicy blackcurrant and ripe strawberry, along with a peppery, spirituous sharpness. In the background, delicate floral violet and lavender. The nose of juicy, ripe fruit may suggest sweetness, yet the vodka is decidedly dry, with grainy, spirituous spiciness and subtle floral notes adding dimension.
This construction makes it a spirit intended for mixing. The producer suggests, among other things, Absolut Wild Berri with lemonade for something sweet and sparkling, or in the form of a Wild Berri Vodkarita cocktail – a margarita variant combining vodka, lime juice, sugar syrup and two to three seasonal berries. The very profile of natural flavourings with no added sugar means that the fruity character does not upset the balance of sweetness in cocktail recipes.