Norwegian Aquavits

Aquavit is regarded as the national spirit of Norway.  Also, it is only in Norway aquavit is matured in old sherry casks, a similar process to that of cognac and whisky.

Aquavit is defined as neutral spirit aromatised with caraway or dill.  In compliance with the EU regulations, the per cent by volume of alcohol shall be at least 37.5.  The spirit utilised in Norwegian aquavit is made from potatoes, whereas Swedish and Danish aquavit is made from grain spirit.

The long tradition, plus the fact that aquavit is only stored in limited amounts outside Scandinavia, is enough to justify regarding the drink as our renowned beverage.  Arcus AS continues to produce the various Norwegian aquavits from ancient recipes that were acquired from the private distilleries in the years following the setting up of the State Wine Monopoly in 1922.

History

Spirit production in Norway stems from the 16th century, when the virtuous men of the cloth made the first attempts at distillation. The distilled spirit was considered to be medicinal - "aqua vitae" - the water of life that provided relief and cure for most diseases.

The word aquavit is derived from aqua vitae, which in Scandinavia is synonymous with a spirit scented with caraway, dill, together with other spices and herbs. To a great extent aquavit has become a spirit that is served on traditional occasions, and is Scandinavia’s main contribution to the international beverage culture.

Through the centuries, aquavit production has developed into a modern industry, though many of the products have a history stretching back to the early 19th century.

Production

Aquavit is defined as a spirit with the main aroma from caraway and/or dill. Aquavit shall have a minimum 37.5 per cent by volume of alcohol, and the spirit can be produced from grain, potatoes or other agricultural products.

Aquavit is now produced in the Nordic countries and Germany.  Norwegian aquavit is distinct from the other aquavits owing to the fact that it is produced from potato spirit, and stored in old sherry barrels. 

In Norway Arcus continues to produce its barrel matured aquavits from the original recipes used by the old distilleries that were taken over by the State Wine Monopoly in the 1920s.

Raw materials

The spirit used for producing Norwegian aquavits is made from potatoes.  The starch from the potatoes undergoes a process by which it is converted to fermentable sugar. Then yeast is added and an alcoholic wash is formed that is distilled in a set of columns to a clean, neutral fine spirit with a 96 per cent by volume of alcohol.

This spirit is used to make a spice distillate, which is produced from a traditional pot still. It is filled with potato spirit, water and spices.  In accordance with EU regulations, the main spices in aquavit shall be caraway and/or dill.  In addition, aniseed, fennel, coriander, grains of paradise, and star aniseed are often used.  All aquavits have their own, characteristic blend of spices.

To manufacture the aquavits, the spice distillate is blended with neutral potato spirit and reduced to a 60 per cent by volume of alcohol, and then it is poured into old sherry barrels for maturing.  Younger barrels give more taste to the aquavit than the old ones do. Storage periods and age of the barrels, combined with the composition of spices, decide the final character of the aquavit.

Spice distillation

This process utilises large pot still apparatus.  Spirit and water are pumped into the apparatus before the spice is put in.  All aquavits have their own particular recipes or blend of spices.

When heated, the alcohol vaporises initially because it has a lower boiling point (78°C) than water.  During the evaporation the taste compounds from the spices rise in the steam upwards into the gooseneck and condense into fluid in the condenser.  A distillate will always be water clear and without a bitter taste.  This is due to both colour and bitter compound molecules being so large and heavy that they fail to vaporise.  The distillate keeps a high alcoholic strength, with a high concentration of taste compounds.  These are used to flavour the neutral potato spirit to produce an aromatised spirit.

Both the first and last stage of evaporation, the first running and after running, go to recycling.  The first running contains some volatile and noxious compounds that are undesirable to include.  The after running contains heavier and coarse compounds that are also unwanted.  The part of the distillate that is utilised is called “the heart”.  

Barrel maturing

Norwegian aquavit differs from the other Scandinavian and German aquavits in that it undergoes a maturing process stored in 500-litre used sherry casks.  With the maturing in sherry casks there is a controlled and late oxidation.  The maturing is a vital stage in the production chain, and closely resembles the process used for whisky and cognac.

The barrel store at Arcus, which occupies two storeys and has a floor space of about 5 acres, contains aquavits for maturing in used sherry barrels from Jerez in Spain. Each barrel holds 500 litres, and there is a total of 8,500 barrels in the store.  At any given time there is over 4 million litres of aquavit maturing here.

During the maturing process there is an evaporation of water and alcohol, on average 2-5 per cent a year, and thus a slight rise in concentration of the aquavit.  Further, an extraction of the oak phenols and aroma compounds augments the aquavit’s complexity.

All the barrels are registered in a separate database, which contains information about age and other properties of the barrels.  This information source is accessed when selecting the appropriate barrel for maturing of the individual batches.  New barrels give a lot of colour, an aroma from the oak staves, and sherry notes.  The older barrels give minimal or no colour, and are used for maturing table aquavits.  The oldest barrels still in use are nearly one hundred years old.

Blending and equalisation

Norwegian aquavit is stored in used sherry casks, but no casks are identical.  Newer casks provide more taste and colour to the aquavit than older ones do.  To select the appropriate casks is thus vital to the integrity of the production chain for aquavit.

The aquavit stored in casks has a 60 per cent by volume of alcohol.  From experience, this is the optimum strength for storing spirit.  When the barrel storage period is finished and the aquavit is prepared for bottling, the contents of each cask must be blended and water added.  This process is called blending and equalisation.  The process takes place in large stainless steel tanks, and the aquavit is cold stabilised always prior to bottling.  This is necessary to prevent any precipitation and dullness, and must be done to all spirits stored in oak barrels.

The distiller is responsible for the various aquavits being produced in accordance with the recipe for the particular brand.  In this process he not only must know what spices are included in what amounts, but also must select the correct casks and compose the production batches so that the taste of the aquavit is correct.

Source: Arcus