Absolut and Tabasco Introduce Their First Spicy Vodka

Followers of spicy booze are in for a deal with. One of many world’s most well-known vodkas has teamed up with America’s most iconic scorching sauce for a collab that brings the warmth — simply not an excessive amount of. 

Absolut Tabasco is a brand new chile pepper-flavored vodka accessible all through the U.S. — and in additional than 50 worldwide markets — beginning this month. It’s the first-ever collaboration between Absolut Vodka and Tabasco Model, every of them goliaths of their respective classes. 

Fittingly, each of the corporate’s core merchandise — Absolut Vodka and Tabasco Model Unique Purple Sauce — are made with simply three elements. Distilled in Åhus, Sweden, Absolut Vodka is made out of water, winter wheat, and a proprietary yeast pressure. Tabasco has been produced on Avery Island, Louisiana, since 1868. Its famed pepper sauce is made out of an aged mash of pink peppers, salt, and vinegar. 

Flavoring for Absolut Tabasco begins with actual Tabasco pepper mash, which is aged and fermented for as much as three years in reclaimed oak barrels. (A lot of these barrels had been beforehand used for whiskey maturation.) A portion of the mash is then blended with Absolut Vodka, adopted by different “pure taste notes.” In response to a press launch, the end result delivers “distinctive warmth and aroma of the world’s most well-known pepper sauce,” together with a mouthfeel paying homage to the sauce. As with all Absolut flavored vodkas, no sugar is added. It’s licensed gluten-free. 

Absolut emphasizes that whereas the brand new collab brings loads of spice, the main target is on taste relatively than uncooked warmth. “Tabasco Sauce doesn’t intention to be the most well liked of scorching sauces, however has the proper degree of kick which has contributed to its large fandom,” an Absolut consultant tells Meals & Wine. “Equally, Absolut Tabasco delivers towards expectations for those who crave warmth, however isn’t so overwhelmingly spicy that the typical shopper could be overwhelmed by the warmth degree.”

The partnership has been within the works since early 2025, when Absolut initiated talks with Tabasco. In fact, the behemoth vodka model — the world’s second-largest — isn’t any stranger to flavored varieties. The Pernod Ricard-owned firm launched Absolut Peppar in 1986, adopted by Absolut Citron in 1988. Different present Absolut flavors embody Wild Berri, Grapefruit, Peach, Vanilla, Raspberri, and Mango.

Absolut Tabasco was partially impressed by a rising demand for spicy vodka, which a 2025 Datassentials report forecasts will rise by as much as 27% by 2029. A 2020 Technomic Taste Traits report additionally suggests {that a} majority of Gen Z is extra prone to buy consumables once they’re marketed as spicy. That’s a key demographic for the world’s largest alcohol corporations, one which’s slowly constructing its affinity for alcohol, from wine to spirits and cocktails. 

Fittingly, Absolut recommends the brand new product in a wide range of blended drinks, together with Bloody Marys and Spicy Lemonade, or by itself as a pepper-infused shot.