The tiny island of Myken off the coast of far-northern Norway could be the birth place of the world’s first Arctic whiskey. A group of enthusiastic amateurs will produce one of the most favorite alcoholic beverage using desalinated sea water from the Vestfjorden, a firth between the Lofoten archipelago and the Salten district of mainland Norway. Roar Larsen, chief scientist at Trondheim’s Sintef institute and one of five members behind the project, has already purchased an old fish factory to house the distillery and applied for a distillation permit.
“We believe we have a unique opportunity to be recognised in the market as the first whisky distillery in the Arctic,” he told Norway’s NRK news channel. Beside the fact that they will use desalinated sea water straight from the Vestfjorden, one more reason why their whisky is so unique, is that their products ripen under the midnight sin and northern lights.
Initially, the group plans to operate the distillery around their day jobs with an aim of producing the first few litres of Myken Whisky later this year.
The group hopes to be able to move to the island full time once they have built up to full production and can generate enough income.
“We have long thought about what we could do to create more jobs so that we ourselves can move here,” Larsen commented. “A whisky distillery is the best idea so far.”
