Purity Vodka’s Thomas Kuuttanen On Distilling & Producing “The Best Tasting Vodka” In The World

Most leading vodkas are distilled between three and five times, yet Swedish brand Purity Vodka is distilled 34 times. Aside from the number of times that its vodka is distilled, Purity also stands out through being related to Master Blender Thomas Kuuttanen. With more than 200 international spirit awards to his name, Kuuttanen is a respected veteran of the spirits business. Meanwhile, Purity itself now has over 150 gold meals from a variety of international blind tasting competitions.

I had the pleasure of doing Q&A with Mr. Kuttanen about his past, present and future with Purity Vodka. More on “the New Undisputed Best Tasting Vodka,” thanks to the 2017 The International Wine & Spirit Competition — as recently launched in the U.S. — can be found at www.purityvodka.com.

Where did the idea to distill vodka 34 times come from? Was that concept there when Purity was being developed?

Thomas Kuuttanen: Our distillation process is designed to maintain as much flavor and aromas from the ingredients as possible. Instead of doing a few very aggressive distillations, we do many very slow distillations. The exact number of distillations comes from a very simple trial and error process. I have tried just about every number you can imagine during the ten years I spent developing the vodka still and our recipe.

Thanks to the slow, integrated distillation, we get a full-flavored spirit so refined that we don’t need any filtration. Altogether, our production is designed to maintain as much flavor as possible from the organic winter wheat and barley we are using.

How long does it take to distill your vodka 34 times?

Thomas Kuuttanen: Since we are doing batch distillations in different steps, we cannot really calculate the process from start to finish. However, in average it takes more than three months from the first distillation until the blending is ready.

How did you get involved with Purity? I understand that you have more than 200 international spirit awards.

Thomas Kuuttanen: For a long time, my focus was on producing whiskey, gin, bitters and aquavit. Purity Vodka did not start as a commercial project, but from pure passion. Being both a spirit geek and a Swede, I could not stop myself from geeking into the Swedish vodka history.

When I did, I realized that modern vodka is completely different from the craft spirit which was produced in Sweden until the industrial revolution. In the old days, Swedish vodka was full-bodied and very rich in character. Out of curiosity, I started to develop my own vodka still, which soon turned into an obsession to bring back vodka to its old glory. After 10 years of hard work, I’m proud to say that I succeeded.

Before working with Purity, what had you been up to career-wise?

Thomas Kuuttanen: After a very short career in banking, I realized that alcohol was so much more fun than money. So, in the early 1990s, my family was one of the first private companies to receive a license to produce alcohol in Sweden after more than 80 years of a government-run alcohol monopoly.

What is coming up for Purity in the coming months?

Thomas Kuuttanen: I’m very excited about some of our new product launches we have in the pipeline for later this year, which will give vodka drinkers a unique chance to discover how important the distillation is for the final product

When not busy with Purity, how do you like to spend your free time?

Thomas Kuuttanen: Spending most of my time on the road or at the distillery, I make sure to prioritize my family on my spare time. I love cooking, and there is no better way to socializing than cooking, eating and drinking.

As a music-centric publication, I must ask: Do you have a favorite musician that you listen to while you work?

Thomas Kuuttanen: I love to listen to Eurythmics tunes while working at the distillery. I would love to meet Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart one day, so I can present them a case of Purity Vodka as a thank you for all the music they have created.

Finally, Thomas, any last words for the kids?

Thomas Kuuttanen: Life is too short to drink cheap vodka.

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Tags: Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, Purity Vodka, Spirits, Sweden, The Eurythmics, Thomas Kuuttanen, Vodka

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."