Finlandia vodka is distilled at Rajamäki, a distillery founded in 1888 by Dr. Whilhelm Juslin. However, due to the Finnish Prohibition Act, in 1920 the distillery was bought by the Finnish state to secure an alcohol supply for pharmacies. Even when the act was lifted in 1932, the state took exclusive control of vodka production.
The Finlandia brand was established in 1970 by Alko, Finland’s state-owned company when it bought the distillery that same year. Only a year later, the brand became the first Scandinavian vodka to be sold in the US. Finlandia is now owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation, and has been since 2004.