Absolut vodka launches Oz and Texas editions

In Australia, Absolut is launching a limited edition flavour and bottle called Absolut Oz designed by Baz Luhrmannin, and a limited edition flavour in the US called Absolut Texas in a bottle by artist Cruz Ortiz.

Film director Baz Luhrmann has created the first Absolut limited edition flavour and bottle celebrating Australia. Called Absolut Oz, the collaboration will see the one-litre bottles available in Australia from this month. And Absolut Texas is the brand’s first state-inspired limited edition flavour. Internationally renowned San Antonio-based artist Cruz Ortiz has designed this bottle as a modern take on classic Texas iconography

“Working with Absolut, Baz has captured the unique essence of Australia”, says Julien Hemard, MD Pernod Ricard Australia, about Absolut Oz.

As part of its creation, Luhrmann travelled to Sweden and the southern town of Åhus, home to the Absolut distillery. Inspired by the robust and deeply seeded beach culture in Australia, Luhrmann believes our taste palette, like other senses such as smell, has the power to transport us to places both known and imagined, and this became his mission when he found himself in the snow bound Swedish landscape back in December 2012.

At this point Luhrmann was neck deep in the final stages of his feature film, The Great Gatsby. Luhrmann says, “Working for the last three years on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, it has been very hard not to think about alcohol, as, after all, ‘The Roaring 20’s’ were a time of Prohibition, when, of course, everyone drank. And my wife Catherine and I did our research. For Catherine, it is about the champagne. But for me it is about the cocktail. And it is hard to think about the cocktail without thinking about great vodka.”

“Absolut Oz is a distillation of the unifying truth that we are all equal under the sun”, Luhrmann added. “While creating the drinks which feature and celebrate Absolut Oz, we reflected on that moment when the sun dips below the horizon and, as we say in the movies, the magic hour is upon us”, he added.

Luhrmann worked closely with Absolut to create four special cocktails, each of which is a toast to four famous beaches around Australia. They are the Tama-Glama, The Hells Bells Beach, the Cable Beach “Stairway to the Moon” and The South Avoca Elevator.

Absolut Oz will feature a specially designed neck tag with story notes, images and recipes for each of the four cocktails created by Luhrmann.

Absolut Texas limited edition flavour

The taste of Absolut Texas is rich and smooth with notes of fresh cucumber, and a warm spicy character; inspired by the flavours of Southwestern cuisine. It pairs well with a myriad of ingredients, such as cranberry, cilantro and grapefruit soda. “From the unique Southwestern flavour to the one-of-a-kind bottle design, Absolut Texas is our biggest and boldest limited edition flavour to-date,” said Afdhel Aziz, brand director, Absolut Vodka, Pernod Ricard USA.

“Absolut Texas was truly designed as a celebration of all the best that contemporary Texas has to offer.” Cruz’s bottle design features a modern spin on iconic Texas imagery, including a “cosmic caballero” cowboy boot against a stylised Texas landscape and his take on the Texas Star. The bottle also features Absolut founder Lars Olsson Smith wearing a cowboy hat, marking only the second time in the brand’s history in which Smith’s logo has been altered.

Absolut Texas will be available in 75cl bottles in the US.

3 March 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor