Notorious Chicago liquor brand Jeppson’s Malört is coming to Ohio

Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read
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An infamous Chicago liquor brand is coming to Ohio.

Cincinnati-based Heidelberg Distributing is bringing Jeppson's Malört to Ohio beginning April 1, Fox 19 reports. The Chicago liquor brand also announced its partnership with Heidelberg Distributing via Instagram.

"It's official! Jeppson's Malört is officially launching in Ohio. We are extremely excited for this partnership with Heidelberg Distributing," the company wrote.

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Molly O'Neill, sales director at CH Distillery, the brand that owns Jeppson's Malört, told The Cincinnati Enquirer that a complete distribution list is still being compiled, but the Barrel House in Dayton, Porco Lounge & Tiki Room in Cleveland and D20 in Kettering plan to serve the brand. Binski’s Bar, a new neighborhood bar opening in Camp Washington in April, is also planning to carry it.

According to its website, Jeppson's Malört has been "weeding out the weak" since its introduction to the Windy City in 1933 by Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppson. Although production briefly moved to Kentucky and Florida in the 1980s, the rare spirit has mainly been produced and distributed in Chicago, where it has developed a reputation for its bold and bitter flavor.

According to Food & Wine, the acquired flavor is similar to the Nordic brännvin, a liquor made from potatoes, grains or wood cellulose. Malört, the Swedish word for wormwood, is the ingredient that gives the spirit its notoriously unsavory flavor.

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The liquor has gained a cult following over the years and has even been called the "unofficial beverage of Chicago." Many Chicagoans even combine a shot of Malört with an Old Style tall boy in what is known as the Chicago Handshake. Malört has also made quite a name for itself in pop culture. In the 2013 film "Drinking Buddies," actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis described the spirit as tasting like "a burnt condom full of gas.”

Despite its unsettling flavor, which has also been compared to paint thinner, burning plastic, contact solution and formaldehyde, Malört has become a rite of passage for many Chicagoans.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Chicago liquor brand Jeppson’s Malört is coming to Ohio