Reyka Vodka in pictures
Reyka is distilled in the naturally utopic surroundings of Iceland, the capital city of which is Reykjavik. Thordur Sigurdsson, master distiller for Reyka, credits the environment – particularly the purity of the water – for the smooth flavour of Reyka.
He said: “Iceland is ideal for distilling vodka because of the clean nature, especially in our location. The Reyka Vodka distillery is located 70km outside Reykjavik, in an area very rich in natural resources such as geothermal energy, arctic spring water and clean air. Co2 levels have actually fallen for the last few decades!”
The brand is made in Borgarnes, which is home to 1,763 people. The front of the distillery is similar in design to the tiny wooden álfhól (elf houses) found in Icelander’s gardens, which they build for the Huldufólk (hidden people) to live in.
This is the Deildartunguhver georthermal spring in West Iceland. It produces 180 litres of water per second – the second largest output of any thermal spring in the world – and supplies heating for the towns of Borganes and Akranes.
Water emerges from the spring at 97 degrees celcius – hot enough to boil an egg in around four minutes. The geothermal energy from this volcanic activity supplies power to the Reyka distillery without adding impurities to the vodka.
Small streams and tributaries leading from such springs across Iceland stay warm despite the low air temperatures they are exposed to, making them perfect for a paddle.
Reyka is distilled in a Carter Head still. There are only six in the world, three of which are owned by parent company William Grant & Sons, and this is the only one that makes vodka (they use the other two to create Hendrick’s Gin!). This still was chosen because it provides an “unparalled purity” thanks to the copper inside, which allows for a higher level of rectification.
Thordur, pictured above, has been Reyka’s master distiller since 2011, and has been distilling vodka for more than 10 years. Thordur takes a grain spirit from Scotland, heats it using a geothermic heat system, and then decants it into the still to begin the distillation process.
As the grain spirit heats up, it turns into vapour. Thordur has harvested lava rocks from the nearby lava field at Grabrok spring and loaded them into this “botanicals basket” at the top of the still. The distilled vapours pass through this as they are being condensed into a liquid.
The still has one single column that is cooled with water. When the spirit reaches the right temperature, Thordur reduces the flow of water at this station.
It then passes up the column, and the spirit runs off the still through the “lava basket” – the final stage of filtration. It’s then cut into head, heart and tails, with only the heart making the final stage. At this point, Reyka is around 92% abv.
Thordur added: “This means that I can remove all impurities, it gives me total control over the quality of the finished product. That is what gives Reyka the fine flavour.”
Afterwards, unfiltered Icelandic spring water is added. Icelandic water is so clean and pure that it is piped into homes without any treatment beforehand.
Each distillation takes about 6 hours and yields the equivalent of about 255 small cases. Now ready to drink, Reyka is shipped back to Scotland and bottled at the William Grant & Sons bottling facility.
As a product of Iceland’s first ever distillery, Reyka vodka is naturally very popular in Iceland’s on-trade, a scene which up until around five years ago had not progressed a great deal. Now a new generation of mixologists are beginning to push the boundaries, particularly with mixed drinks. In the sophisticated lounge-bars (and kitchens) of Reykjavic’s restaurants and hotels, foraged’ ingredients have attracted new interest. Above, a forager displays a hand containing – amongst other things – oysters, which will be lunch for the day.
