Absinthes produced in Denmark from the 19 th to the 21 st century In this article we are taking a look at the history of the Danish absinthes. A short overview: 12 brands of Danish produced absinthes are currently known. The first Danish absinthes were produced in the mid-to late 1800s. There has been an uninterrupted production of absinthe in Denmark from 1920 until today. For a period during the 1980s absinthe was only produced in Val de Travers and Denmark The Danish absinthe manufacturers tried to produce real absinthe, the production was never meant to exploit the absinthe history. Due to the lack of distillery-equipment, most Danish absinthes were manufactured by mixing essential oils. Therefore the absinthes lacked in complexity compared to distilled absinthes. Drinking absinthe in Copenhagen Historically, the Danes imported wellknown brands like Pernod Fils, or commissioned absinthes in Switzerland and put their own labels on the bottles. In the 1800s many Swiss immigrated to Copenhagen. Some of them opened bakeries, patisseries and later cafés, where they served baked goods, coffee and liquors. There are many references to drinking absinthe in these cafés in Danish literature. An indication of how popular absinthe was in Denmark might be the fact that Denmark was one of the few countries outside France where Pernod Fils had a depot. For information about absinthe culture in Denmark see Hartsmars article about absinthe in Sweden and Denmark.
Drinking Danish absinthe Absinthe in Denmark was always drunk with ice water from a glass carafe, usually without sugar. But with the prohibition of absinthe around the world, the habit of drinking absinthe with water also slowly died out in Denmark. Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, absinthe was mainly used in cocktails. Production of the Danish Holmegaard absinthe glass also ended around 1950. In the early 1980s the famous Danish bar Tannhäuser revived absinthe as a stand-alone drink with water, and today more and more bars in Copenhagen serve absinthe again. The 12 Danish absinthe brands 1. Jaques Mini & Fils Absinthe / Jacob Mini og Sønner Absinthe The first Danish produced absinthe was probably made by Swiss immigrant Jacob Mini, who was a successful wine merchant in the 1800s in Copenhagen. He was also the owner of a popular café and a distillery. Mini produced the brand Jaques Mini & Fils Absinthe in addition to importing and selling Swiss absinthe for many years. As Libelulle has pointed out earlier, the Jaques Mini & Fils label was, <cough>, inspired by the Absinthe Edouard Pernod label.
Most absinthe sold in Denmark before the ban was imported from France and Switzerland, such as this Swiss bottle of Bossard Pere & Fils from the 1870s. After the French ban in 1915 absinthe remained legal in Denmark and wine merchants and bars had secured large stocks of absinthe for their customers. An article from a Danish 1917 newspaper reports that customers still drank Pernod absinthe every day at the prestigious Hotel d'angleterre: Only blanche, since the hotel had run out of verte by then. Once the entire absinthe stock was depleted, the Danish wine merchants started producing absinthe themselves to satisfy the demand for absinthe. 2. Bennoh Absinth Benni Golf was a Danish wine merchant who had learned the art of wine trading in France. He loved France and was a friend of the van Gogh family, and he even wrote a book about Vincent van Gogh in 1938. In the early 1920s, when Denmark started to run out of absinthe, Benni Golf decided to produce his own absinthe and to sell it together with his gin and other types of alcohol he was producing. He called the new brand Bennoh as an obvious reference to both Pernod and his own name. As a reference to the old French absinthe bottles, he ordered specially produced bottles with glass seals with the name Golf on it. The neck was wrapped in silver foil and the prop lacquer-sealed, just like the Pernod Fils bottles.
3. Casanova Absinth The trademark "Casanova absinth" was registered by wine merchant Hedobald Petersens Eftf. in 1938. Nothing else is known about this brand. 4. L. Perret & Co. Absinth The brand L. Perret og Co. was registered as a protected Danish trademark for production of liquors in 1917 by Societé Anonyme L. Perret & Cie A/S, Bordeaux-Copenhague. 1917 was of course two years after the French absinthe ban, and there is currently no evidence that L. Perret & Cie sold absinth in Denmark at this time.
In 1937-38 the company changed their name to L. Perret & Co., A/S, København and in 1947 the brand Perret was registered for sale and production of all kinds of alcohol. The 1947 brand is the logo with the typeface we have seen on later Danish absinthe bottles. Wine merchant Vilh. Christensen A/S obtained the L. Perret & Co. A/S, København brand in 1957. And the known bottles of L. Perret & Co Absinth was sold in bottles from Vilh. Christensen A/S, so these bottles were possibly sold in the late 1950s to early 60s. 5. Arthur Fich Absinth Arthur Fich began as a wine merchant in 1916. He produced an absinth carrying his own name, however it is currently not known when he produced his absinth. The bottle in the photo belonging to Hartsmar is likely from the late 1950s, early 60s.
Left: Arthur Fich absinth next to a glass of 1925-1930 Bennoh absinth. 6. Golf Absinth Original By the late 1960s and early 70s Pernod became known as a pastis and the Danes no longer thought of absinthe as synonymous with Pernod Fils, the label was therefore changed from Bennoh to Benni Golf Absinthe Original. It is possible this took place around 1970 when the company re-registered as Golf Wine and Spirits Co. A/S. 7. Bestle Absinth In 1974 Golf Wine and Spirits Co. A/S was bought by Georg Bestle A/S and sometime during the last half of 1970 the label for Golf Absinthe Original was changed to Bestle Absinthe. Production seems to have ended before 1980.
8. Absinth Rasch An Absinth Rasch label from the Tannhäusers Alcohol Museum from wine merchant Rasch in Copenhagen features drawings of Holmegaard absinthe glasses. The text says Absinth Rasch, Manufactured by Hans Chr. Rasch, Copenhagen. Nothing else is currently known about this brand. 9. Helmbæk Absinth Produced until 1984 Jens Helmbæk owned a major whole sales wine business in Copenhagen and produced a Helmbæk absinth. When he ended the absinth production, Jørgen Sømod from the Tannhäuser Bar bought the last bottles. After running out of Helmbæk absinth, Sømod then decided to produce the absinthe by himself and to purchase the recipe from Jens Helmbæk.
10. Tannhäuser Absinth (1983-1986) The Tannhäuser Bar was a Danish 1980s icon. The legendary bar was opened in 1983 by Jørgen Sømod, who until his death in 2013 was the leading expert on Danish coins and tokens and authored more than 400 books and articles on Danish coins. Sømod was a collector by heart and toured the cellars of the old Danish wine merchants for rare bottles of alcohols. Tannhäuser had more than 400 different types of alcohol, and when the bar opened in 1984, Tarragona absinthe and Jens Helmbæk absinth were on the bar card. Tannhäuser Bar was known for a number of things, including the Ugly Bugly cocktail which featured three lashes with a whip of the customers own choice - and as being the only bar in the world at the time where you could buy absinthe. Sømod wrote a ten-page booklet on absinthe that customers could purchase, and the bar featured a small alcohol museum with old glasses and absinthe bottles. Tannhäuser owner Jørgen Sømod in front of the Absinthe section of the Tannhäuser alcohol museum.
Danish newspaper 1984. Caption: Tannhäuser is the only place in the world that serves absinth. Jørgen Sømod is presenting a bottle. When the conversation turns to Absinth, the owners favorite child, Jørgen Sømods eyes shines, he gesticulates, and his voice becomes intense. 11. Kruts Karport Absinth (1986 still in production) When the Tannhäuser Bar closed in 1986 the Kruths Karport Bar bought the remaining bottles of absinth together with the recipe for Sømod s Tannhäuser absinth. During the 80s and 90s the bar was very popular in Copenhagen, not at least because of the absinth. 12. Esrum Sø absinth 2011 still in production The Esrum Sø microdistillery started their own production of a distilled absinthe in 2011 and presented it in 2012 at Kruts Karport. The first batches were promising and we hope for more Danish absinthes to come in the future.
Honorable mention La Maison Fontaine Sven Olsen, who is one of the owners of La Maison Fontaine is Danish. His absinthes are produced in France at Les Fils d'emile Pernot, so they hardly count as Danish absinthes. Michèle & Carsten - http://www.pinterest.com/xcjo/absinthe-antiques/