Aurora Spirit Distillery has released Bivrost Arctic Barley 2019 Harvest, its first finished whisky made from barley grown above the Arctic Circle. The grain was cultivated at Heimdal Farm in Øvre Alta, Norway, before being malted, fermented, distilled and matured at the distillery at 69° North.
The whisky marks the first tangible result of an ongoing experiment involving local farmers, researchers and the distillery. For years, the parties have explored whether barley can be reliably grown at extreme northern latitudes, and whether it can then be used to make whisky.
Arctic agriculture presents obvious challenges. The growing season is short, temperatures are low, weather is unpredictable and yields are far lower than in established grain-growing regions.
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However, the region also offers one unusual advantage. During the most important part of the growing season, Northern Norway experiences almost continuous daylight under the midnight sun.
Central to the project is identifying which barley varieties can use these conditions and reach maturity before the short season ends.
Benjamin Hykkerud of Heimdal Farm has experimented with barley in Alta for decades. His family also produces milk, beef and potatoes.
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READ THE STORY“Growing barley this far north is easy. The season is very short, the weather is highly unpredictable, and some years are simply better than others,” Hykkerud said.
“I have been experimenting with barley here in Alta for many years, so seeing grain from our fields go all the way from harvest to a whisky is something quite special.”
Barley harvested in 2019 was malted, then fermented for seven days using Tormodgarden kveik, a traditional Norwegian farmhouse yeast culture. It was then distilled and matured at the distillery.
“When we started Aurora Spirit, the ambition was always to explore what it really means to make whisky in the Arctic,” said Tor Petter Christensen, CEO of Aurora Spirit Distillery.
“Growing barley this far north seemed almost impossible, which is exactly why we wanted to try. This first whisky is the result of years of work, experimentation and collaboration, but for us it is only the beginning.”
The distillery said the project is not intended to turn Northern Norway into a major barley producer. Yields remain low and conditions challenging.
Instead, the aim is to understand what is possible at the geographical extremes. Each harvest provides new conditions to study, with temperature, rainfall and season length varying year to year.
Aurora Spirit intends to track future harvests from field to finished spirit.
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