Dolph Lundgren has spent decades throwing haymakers—on screen, in the gym, and in life. He’s been the Soviet juggernaut who nearly flattened Rocky Balboa, the cosmic warrior in Masters of the Universe, and the relentless mercenary in The Expendables. He’s fought robots, commandos, and even cancer. In December 2024, after a nine-year battle that started in his kidney, Dolph Lundgren announced he was officially cancer-free. At one point, doctors had given him just two to three years to live—a real-life fight more grueling than any Hollywood showdown.
And now? Now he’s fighting for something a little smoother.
“I was complaining, saying all the vodkas were kind of… they don’t taste too good,” Lundgren admits. That’s when his wife, Emma, pointed out the obvious: “You’re a chemical engineer—why don’t you make your own?”
So he did. And just like that, Hard Cut Vodka was born.
Hard Cut Vodka, Lundgren’s brand-new premium potato vodka, is more than just another celebrity booze label. Unlike those watered-down vodkas, Hard Cut Vodka is a 90-proof beast, made from Idaho russet potatoes for a smooth, creamy finish and crisp Rocky Mountain water for pure, clean bite.
With a modest suggested retail price of $29.99, expect to see it making waves throughout 2025. Hard Cut Vodka is rolling out nationwide through Flaviar.com and hitting California shelves via BevMo. And if you happen to run into Dolph at a bar, you know exactly what to order. It’s a high-proof, ultra-smooth sipper designed for a hard spirits world he believes has “gone soft.”
And if there’s one guy who knows a thing or two about staying tough in moderation, it’s Dolph.
We caught up with the Rocky IV legend to talk about why he decided to throw his hat into the vodka ring, the chemistry behind making the perfect sip, what cocktail he swears by, and what Ivan Drago might be doing today.
Spoiler alert: He needs a drink.
BroBible: What made you want to get into the vodka business?
Dolph Lundgren: Yeah, good question. Well, I think it started about five years ago, actually a little more than five years ago. I was dating my current wife, and I like to drink vodka. I used to drink more vodka back in the day, and I like it on the rocks. And I think we were in Santa Barbara, and for some reason, I was complaining, saying all the vodkas were kind of… they don’t taste too good. I used to drink some vodkas in Europe, but the ones they had up there, they were all, it didn’t taste good. They were very, very sharp. And also, they look kind of boring. The bottles, everything looked the same. And I think she’s the one who said, ‘Why don’t you try to create your own? Why don’t you, you’re a chemical engineer. You should come up with something.’ And I said yes. I didn’t know what I was in for, five years of a lot of work, but it’s been a ride. Yeah, that’s how we started. And I decided together we wanted to create a vodka that was really, really easy to drink, smooth, and also to have kind of a fun image and have some fun with that as well coming from action movies.
BroBible: So Hard Cut is 90 proof—stronger than most vodkas. How would you compare it to one of your action movie characters?
Dolph Lundgren: Oh wow. That’s an interesting question. Well, the vodka Hard Cut is very, it’s stronger than most vodkas, it’s 90 proof, and it’s smoother than most vodka. So it has that combination. So it’s a little bit like… makes me think of James Bond, but… Have I played a character like that? It’s a little bit more like me in real life, I think. Because, yes, I am pretty athletic and I guess you could call me strong, but also I have the other side as well. But character-wise, I’d have to think… none of the… I mean, most of my characters are very tough, but they don’t really have that soft side, the smooth side. So I suppose I’d have to peg it down to one of my future characters. I’ll have to play that character in a movie in the future.
BroBible: You grew up in Sweden, a country with a strong vodka tradition. Did that influence how you crafted Hard Cut?
Dolph Lundgren: Yeah, I mean, my dad didn’t drink. So I wasn’t around liquor a lot at home when I was a kid. But yeah, there’s a tradition of schnapps and aquavits, which is usually grain-based. It usually has a spice to it, like an herb. They put herbs and spice in it. So I have had, it’s part of the culture to have a shot of schnapps or aquavit with your meal. So I grew up that way as I got older. But the smoothness of the vodka, I mean, I think I also learned a bit from Russia because I was there quite a bit doing some promotions. And I drank some really smooth vodkas there that I always remember being very, very smooth and easy to drink with ice. So I think I’ve been around those distilled high-proof liquors a lot. But it’s just lately that I started focusing on it and trying, digging into the details of what do I really, how can I really produce a really, what I would think a perfect vodka?
BroBible: What’s the perfect way to drink Hard Cut?
Dolph Lundgren: Well, of course, straight up on the rocks. It’s really good because it is high proof. So it takes the ice really well. So it’s diluted just to a perfect sort of ABV, I think. And you can drink it for a longer time. It kind of lasts better. I also like it in the five-to-one martini on the rocks, which we kind of worked out the ratio that we like with green olives. It’s very savory. And then I have another favorite drink that nobody’s tried yet except me and my wife, which is based on fresh apple juice, fresh lemon juice, ginger over ice with Hard Cut and a mint garnish—very fresh.
BroBible: If Ivan Drago were around today, what do you think he’d be up to?
Dolph Lundgren: Well, there was Creed 2, obviously, where we saw Ivan Drago and his son Victor in the Ukraine. MGM actually had a project for a Drago spinoff, and in it, Victor wanted to join the armed forces, but Ivan, who had finally softened a bit, convinced him to go to America to raise money for the cause. So I’d say if he were around today, he’d probably be over here with his kid, trying to regain the heavyweight title… and probably having a shot of vodka to destress.