Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.06.2014, Blaðsíða 38

38
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2011
I have come to meet the brothers
Þorkelsson who, along with three other
family members, run Eimverk Distill-
ery—producers of Iceland’s first-ever
single-malt. Having read that they only
had the idea to make whisky five years
ago, I was eager to hear how they’d ar-
rived at this point. Rather than start-
ing in 2009, however, Haraldur—elder
brother and head of the company—
takes me back over 1,000 years to the
settlement of Iceland and the impor-
tance of barley to Iceland’s early inhab-
itants. I am immediately struck by his
desire to root the story of Eimverk in the
history and landscape of Iceland.
Sagas And Soil
We congregate around a large bar-
rel upon which rests a smaller 4.5 litre
cask of Flóki, their signature single-
malt. The limited run of 100 casks has
all but sold out, and the release of the
bottled first-impression—scheduled
for September—has generated a lot of
interest. Haraldur’s mind, however, is
still back in the Viking Era. He tells me
that Flóki is named in honour of Hrafna-
Flóki, the first Norseman to intention-
ally sail to Iceland. Although he and
his followers grew barley, they used it
to make ale rather than whisky. None-
theless, the spirit of the early Sagas is
one with which the Eimverk family all
identify: a story of stepping out, of do-
ing something that hasn’t been done
before.

In true pioneering spirit, the brothers
don’t focus on the challenges they have
faced but rather on the opportunities
that the harsh Icelandic climate has
afforded them. They explain that the
crops grown in this part of the world
are lower in sugar than those grown in
warmer climes. This means that Eim-
verk need to use up to 50% more grain
in their whisky than if they were using
imported grains. Egill, the master-dis-
tiller, goes on to explain that the whisky
is so sensitive to climate that it will take
on the characteristics of the particular
summer in which its barley was grown.
Not only does the weather imbue
the whisky with a unique palette, but it
also elevates its ecological credentials.
Since the temperature in Iceland pro-
hibits the proliferation of pests, pesti-
cides are not necessary. Furthermore,
the earth very kindly supplies them
with the geothermal energy required to
power the stills. “Accidentally we made
the first green whisky,” Haraldur says
with a smile.
Green To Gold
They did not set out to make “green
whisky,” but “to make a world class
whisky in Iceland,” the brothers tell
me. And if their gin is anything to go
by, then they’re on the right track. At
the 2014 San Francisco World Spirits
Competition (the most respected spir-
its competition in the world, in case
you didn’t know) Vor Gin picked up a
Double Gold Award—
which makes it one of
the best gins on the
planet. Not too bad
at all, considering
that they only began
working on it in the
autumn of 2013.
Having already
arrived at a good
base from which to
work, they found
themselves free to experiment with a
variety of botanicals. Rather than just
reaching for whatever exotic spices
were available, they decided to make
things a little more difficult. They re-
stricted themselves to fruits and herbs
available in Iceland 100 years ago with
a view to creating a
distinctly Icelandic
gin.
The list of ingre-
dients sound like a
farmers market en-
thusiast’s wet dream.
Amongst them: kale,
rhubarb and sweet
kelp. Iceland moss is
in there too to give it
a hint of bitterness.
Not too much, however, as overdoing it
would make the gin undrinkable.
Fortunately, the gin is drinkable.
Very drinkable. I have been drinking gin
for ten years (continually rather than
continuously, I might add) and Vor is
one of the best I have ever tasted, and
knowing where everything comes from
only enhances the experience. “We like
knowing the farmer and where our bar-
ley comes from,” Haraldur says of their
ingredients, which are all sourced from
small owner-operated farms. “It is a
part of our own story and is a story we
want to tell.”
It is a story that is only just begin-
ning to unfold. After five years of hard
work, only now are they at the point of
beginning to sell. Haraldur is the first
to recognise that profit, however, is not
the sole objective. “If we’re passionate
about something,” he says, “we create
value: whether in dollars or cents or a
life well spent.”
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The first thing I notice as I slip through the warehouse’s un-
marked door is the smell: somewhere between the sweet-
ness of freshly-baked bread and the earthiness of a turf fire.
The space is given over to several large tanks, all of which
are adorned with a confusion of pipes, gauges and valves.
Against the back wall, barrels and bottles of Flóki Whisky
and Vor Gin await distribution.
Words
Kevin Quigley
Photo
Nanna Dís
38 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 07 — 2014BOOZE
Eimverk’s Whisky
Matures, Its Gin
Blossoms
The slow story of Iceland’s first single
malt whisky and award-winning gin
INFO
The Þorkelsson brothers started
making whisky in 2009, and went
through 163 separate recipes
before settling on their Flóki
single malt.
Flóki is Iceland’s first attempt
at making whisky and it is
matured in American Oak barrels
previously used by Jack Daniels
distillery.

INTER
VIEW