bäsk (besk)
ingredient / ingredient-bask
ベスク
Bäsk (besk) is a traditional Swedish category of spirit: a distilled spirit flavored with wormwood (malört), or malörtsbrännvin. A Swedish Academy dictionary lists "besk" as a comparison reference alongside vermouth and absint. Jeppson’s Malört of Chicago is an example established in the United States through Swedish immigration.
Photographs (captions in Japanese)
ニガヨモギ（Artemisia absinthium）の植栽株。bäsk（besk）はこの植物で香り付けした蒸留酒（malörtsbrännvin）を指すが、Commons上に bäsk 製品自体の写真は見つからなかったため、香り付けに使う植物の写真を給源素材として採用した。
原料写っているもの: Artemisia absinthium（ニガヨモギ、malört）部位・状態: 植栽された株
写真: David Monniaux／ CC BY-SA 3.0／ 原画像／ 台帳の原画像
写真の範囲と来歴
被写体の確認: 原典の記載による同定。bäsk という蒸留酒製品そのものの写真ではない。フランス・オーヴェル=シュル=オワーズの絶対苦艾酒博物館の庭で撮影された個体。
掲載画像: Wikimedia Commons の原寸ファイル。苦味研究所では切り抜き・色調変更なし。 表示用には幅1200px上限のWebPを配信し、台帳の原画像は上のリンクから確認できます。
On this page (10 sections)
Reading the bitterness
Svenska Akademiens ordböcker defines its headword 『2 besk』 (in translation: "besk, second headword") as a spirit flavored with wormwood (malört; brännvin kryddat med malört). The same dictionary’s SAOL word list paraphrases it as 『sup malörtsbrännvin』 (in translation: "a shot of wormwood-flavored spirit"). Bäsk/besk is thus listed as a word for this category of malörtsbrännvin.
In its entry for 『malört』 (in translation: "wormwood"), the same dictionary says the plant is used to flavor spirits (anv. bl.a. som brännvinskrydda), and lists absint (absinthe), 2besk (this entry), and vermouth as comparison references (JFR). The dictionary thus connects these distinct alcoholic drink categories through wormwood.
On a product page of Sweden’s state alcohol retailer, Systembolaget, Lennarts Bäsk Malörtsbrännvin (40% alcohol by volume, 200 ml) is classified under 『Akvavit & Kryddat brännvin』 (in translation: "Akvavit and flavored spirits"). Its tasting note says 『Kryddig, bitter smak med inslag av malört och pomerans』 (in translation: "Spicy, bitter taste with notes of wormwood and bitter orange"). However, this is the classification and sensory description of a single product, not representative of bäsk as a whole.
In the United States, the official brand site says 『Jeppson's Malört』 (in translation: "Jeppson’s Wormwood"), named for Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppson, began legal production and sales in Chicago after Prohibition ended in 1933. According to the same site, the brand and company name were transferred to Chicago’s CH Distillery in 2018, and production resumed in Chicago in 2019.
Sources for this overview
besk（見出し語）— Svenska Akademiens ordböcker（SAOL/SO/SAOB）
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the SO/SAOL definition of 『2 besk』 (in translation: "besk, second headword") and the SAOL paraphrase.
malört（見出し語）— Svenska Akademiens ordböcker（SAOL/SO/SAOB）
Checked for this overview: Confirmed that the JFR field under malört lists absint, 2besk, and vermouth together.
Lennarts Bäsk Malörtsbrännvin — 商品ページ
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the Systembolaget product-page classification. / Confirmed the tasting note on the same product page.
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the official site’s immigration account, 2018 transfer, and 2019 resumption of production.
Other names: besk (sv), bäsk (sv, identification medium), malörtsbrännvin (sv)
Follow the connections
bäsk (besk) →is flavoured with→ wormwood
Hypotheses and recipe candidates for this entry are on the Japanese page.
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Composition and content (1)
Scope: A general definition in a Swedish dictionary (SO/SAOL)
Note: The SO dictionary's entry for 『malört』 lists, as comparison references (JFR), absint (absinthe), 2besk (this entity), and vermouth side by side, corroborating at the dictionary level that wormwood is the common ingredient running through the 3 types absinthe, vermouth, and besk (a record linked to H14). Connected to the same ingredient-wormwood as the existing ingredient-vermouth / ingredient-absinthe.
Show data
ingredient-bask —is_flavoured_with→ ingredient-wormwoodSensory (1)
Scope: Sweden. The tasting note for Lennarts Bäsk Malörtsbrännvin on Systembolaget’s official product page.
Note: This is an official retailer tasting note, not measurements by a standardized sensory panel. The description concerns one brand and cannot be generalized to all besk.
Show data
ingredient-bask —has_sensory_attribute→ "『Kryddig, bitter smak med inslag av malört och pomerans』 (in translation: "Spicy, bitter taste with notes of wormwood and bitter orange")."Safety and regulation (1)
Scope: Sweden. Systembolaget product page for Lennarts Bäsk Malörtsbrännvin, 40% alcohol by volume and 200 ml.
Note: This is a state retailer’s product classification. It does not assert legal identity with the EU Akvavit category (the existing ingredient-akvavit entry, category 24). Systembolaget holds a state monopoly on Swedish alcohol retail; the classification is recorded for its public character.
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ingredient-bask —is_classified_by→ "Systembolaget, the Swedish state alcohol retailer, classifies the product under "Akvavit & Kryddat brännvin" (in translation: "Akvavit and flavored spirits")."Culture (2)
Scope: Swedish. Svenska Akademiens ordböcker (SO/SAOL, 2026 edition), noun headword 『2 besk』 (in translation: "besk, second headword").
Note: A dictionary-level word meaning, not a compositional analysis of any individual product.
Show data
ingredient-bask —is_defined_in_dictionary_as→ "A spirit flavored with wormwood (malört; brännvin kryddat med malört). SAOL, the Swedish Academy word list, paraphrases it as 『sup malörtsbrännvin』 (in translation: "a shot of wormwood-flavored spirit")."Scope: Chicago, Illinois, United States. The brand’s official malort.com website; the company’s own account.
Show data
ingredient-bask —has_history→ "『Jeppson's Malört』 (in translation: "Jeppson’s Wormwood"), named for Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppson, was legally produced and sold in Chicago after Prohibition ended in 1933. The brand and company name passed to Chicago’s CH Distillery in 2018, and production in Chicago resumed in 2019."