The most northern distillery in the world, located under the dancing northern lights 350km inside the Arctic Circle in Norway, has launched to the trade its unique range of Bivrost spirits in the UK at a special event at Edinburgh’s Malmaison Hotel earlier this month.
Guest were invited to taste the range of spirits, which include gin, vodka, aquavit and an early taste of the maturing whisky, as well as hear about the unique Nordic venture from Hans-Olav Eriksen, and its special connection to Scotland from Colin Houston, Director of Aurora Spirit UK.
Bringing a little Norwegian culture to Edinburgh, guests at the red-carpet event enjoyed Arctic music, canapes flown from Norway and a taste of Norse culture. While 2016 saw Scandinavian-inspired ‘hygge’ become hip, the stage is now set for Nordic drinks to make an impact, according to Radius magazine.
Handcrafted under the glow of the Northern Lights at the foot of the majestic Lyngen Alps, the new distillery, which opened in 2015, uses filtered, melting 5000-year-old glacial water and locally harvested botanicals to ensure a unique product of Arctic Norway.
Speaking at the launch event, Tor-Petter Christensen commented:
“Bivrost is the name the Vikings gave the Northern Lights and was seen as a magical bridge from the home world to the realms of Norse Gods. Today, it represents the bridge between hectic modern life and the adventurous spirit of the Arctic.
“Using some of the latest technology in our state of the art distillery, we have been able to create a unique range of spirits which truly represent Arctic Norway. Our 24-hour daylight summers provide special characteristics and ripen the berries in double quick time, producing berries bursting with intense fruit flavours.
“At Aurora Spirit, we’ve taken a lot of inspiration from the success of the Scottish spirits industry and are delighted to be able to bring a little bit of Norway to the UK. Our gin comes highly recommended from Norway, so we’re looking forward to hearing what people in the UK think.”
Aurora Spirit has a close connection to Scotland, with co-founder Colin Houston hailing from the small Scottish town of Oban. The distillery has struck up a unique partnership with Scotland’s oldest distillery, Glenturret Distillery, with the two distilleries have been swapping skills, ideas and successes since meeting in early 2015. Aurora Spirit Directors visited Glenturret Distillery, spiritual home to The Famous Grouse, on a fact-finding mission and were impressed with how The Famous Grouse Experience and Glenturret Distillery work as both a working distillery and visitor attraction.
Situated on a peninsula overlooking Lyngen Fjord on the site of an old underground NATO base that once tracked Russian submarines coming over the top of Norway. The whisky, which is currently being stored in old and very secret NATO tunnels drilled into the hillside and underground chambers, will be available in 2019 after maturing in casks sourced from Speyside Cooperage, which lies in the heart of the Scottish Speyside Malt Whisky Trail.
For trade enquiries please contact Colin Houston on [email protected] or 07857620488 or visit the UK website www.auroraspirit.co.uk