World’s ‘most northern distillery’ makes UK debut

Norway-based Aurora Spirit, said to be the world’s most northern distillery, has launched its Bivrost spirits range comprising gin, vodka and aquavit in the UK on-trade.

Aurora Spirit is said to be the world’s most northern distillery

Located at the foot of the Lyngen Alps 350km inside the Arctic Circle, the distillery uses 5000-year-old glacial water and locally harvested botanicals to craft its spirits selection.

CEO and founder Tor-Petter Christensen said: “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.

Representatives form Aurora Spirit debuted the existing range, along with a sample of its maturing whisky, at Edinburgh’s Malmaison Hotel earlier this month, along with Arctic music and Norwegian canapés.

The whisky is currently being stored on the site of an old underground NATO base that once tracked Russian submarines coming over the top of Norway, and will be available in 2019 after maturing in casks sourced from Speyside Cooperage.

Aurora Spirit prides itself on a close working relationship with Scotland, from where co-founder Colin Houston hails. As such, the distillery has struck up a partnership with Glenturret Distillery.

“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,” Christensen continued. “Our gin comes highly recommended from Norway, so we’re looking forward to hearing what people in the UK think.”