Aquavit
Aquavit is a centuries-old Scandinavian spirit, originally connected to holiday feasts and celebrations in Nordic countries. In more recent times, aquavit has become a part of everyday life in Sweden, Norway, and other northern European countries. Aquavit is made from neutral spirit and is flavored with caraway and/or dill (by law), plus a smattering of other herbs. Many of these find commonalities with gin, including citrus peel, anise, and cardamom, though juniper is not a typical ingredient in aquavit. Aquavit can be bottled unaged or can spend time in barrel — though note that caramel coloring is common with lesser bottlings. In recent years, aquavit has begun to show up in Western renditions, and “craft aquavit” is now a thing in the U.S.
Top Aquavit Posts:
Making Our Own Aquavit with Spiced Spirits
Lysholm Linie Aquavit
Spirits of French Lick – Bourbons, Gin, Absinthe, and Aquavit
Tasting the Spirits of Sweden’s Spirit of Hven
Aurora Spirit Distillery in Norway sits above the Arctic Circle and lays claim to being the northermost distillery in the world. The company makes a range of spirits including whiskey, gin, and vodka, but when you’re this close to Santa, what you want to drink is aquavit, the iconic tipple of Scandinavia. Bivrost Cask Aquavit…
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Earlier this year we brought you coverage of California Fernet, a fun spin on the classic Italian style that mixes in both Californian and Swedish sensibilities. Now we’re back to the well with five more products from Martin Geijer’s Geijer Glogg, the San Francisco-based company behind the brand. This quintet spans a wide range of…
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New Alchemy Distilling is a craft producer based in the El Dorado Hills of California, where, with nary a barrel in sight, it focuses on (mostly) white spirits — vodka, gin, white whiskey, and even aquavit. The company produces a collection of six different spirits, three of which we look at here. Let’s dig in!…
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Norden Aquavit hails not from Denmark but from Detroit, where founder Robyn Cleveland crafts this Scandinavia-inspired spirit with 10 botanicals, heavy on the caraway. We received a sample and collected some thoughts. First off, the nose is an iconic example of Scandinavian aquavit, heavy with the caraway essence of rye bread as well as a…
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Aquavit seems to be having a minor resurgence in American cocktail culture as an alternative to gin, and U.S. drinkers are now getting access to two new expressions of this Scandinavian essential: Svol, available in both “Danish” and “Swedish” styles (though both are made in Brooklyn, NY). Some details: Launching in the U.S. this month,…
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If I wanted to be perfect on style and grammar, I’d call this post “Spirits of Spirits of French Lick.” You see, the distillery is called Spirits of French Lick, not French Lick, which makes me realize that I’ve now typed French lick four times. Five. Spirits of French Lick can be found in West Baden…
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Very few people are doing American single malt whisky with solid success, but one of the outliers has long been House Spirits, an early mover in this space and the brand behind Westward Single Malt, which we reviewed in one of its earliest incarnations in 2013. Today, House Spirits is known as the brand that…
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What’s new from MashBox? The last couple of packages we’ve received include these samples. (We also received duplicates of the Black Button products below and Black Button’s Bourbon Cream.) Oak & Rye Wormwood – Spirit distilled from grain distilled and flavored with herbs. Somewhere in the vein of an aquavit, the nose is lightly licorice-inflected,…
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Long Road Distillers, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has an exhaustive spirits catalog (now spanning 10 products), almost all of which is made from locally-sourced red winter wheat. Want to see how versatile a single grain can be? Here’s a look at five different spirits that Long Road makes from it (plus a cherry brandy made…
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Duluth, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior, is the home of Vikre Distillery, which takes a localvore approach to making a wide range of (mostly white) spirits, using local grains, herbs, and water from the lake next door to make its craft spirits. The six spirits below — 1 vodka, 3 gins, and 2 aquavits…
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