Absolut Deck
Promotional deck published for Absolut Vodka in Sweden.
In 2005, Absolut Vodka of Sweden produced these playing cards as a promotional pack. According to cardistry websites the pack was originally designed for a marketing tour organized by several magicians, including Doug McKenzie, Lee Asher, and Kostya Kimlat.
There are 10 different drink/cocktail recipes based on Absolut products repeated on the ace-10 pip cards in each suit, all with names or calls associated with the game of poker (e.g. Absolut Flush, Absolut Hold, Absolut Raise, etc.). The court cards are colourfully designed, all quite similar in style but with variations between the suits. The two jokers hold an empty vodka bottle.
In 2008 the company transferred ownership of Absolut vodka to Pernod Ricard.
Above: promotional deck published for Absolut Vodka in Sweden, 2005.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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