Aquavit - What Is The Water Of Life?

Aquavit translated from Latin means "water of life". History traces the origins of Aquavit back to the 15th century. Today, most of our Aquavit is made from a base spirit of wheat or potato and is flavored with caraway and other botanicals. Kind of like a Scandinavian gin. Aquavit is popular in most Scandinavian countries. It's an important part Holiday tradition in those countries.

That was until the mid-2000's when there was an Aquavit shortage. Some US-based craft distilleries decided to try their hand at Aquavit. With a booming cocktail culter, Aquavit made a big splash in the States. Today, there are at least 50 US Aquavits (Ameriquvites?) on the market. 

Long Road Distillers current has two Aquavits available. There is the Original and their Old Aquavit. Long Road mills, ferments and distills Red Winter Wheat from a local farm. The spirit is twice distilled to 190 proof in a process similar to vodka. After distillation, they macerate the heartier botanicals. The softer botanicals are added to a gin basket and the spirit is distilled for the third time. The process is over for the Original Aquavit. Long Roads Old Aquavit goes into a used wheat whiskey barrel to age for up to a year before bottling. Long Road uses a botanical mix of caraway, fresh dill, dill seed, cumin, fennel, cinnamon and star anise.

Long Road Distillers Aquavit Review:

 Check out the Long Road Distillers collection here. I'm not one that puts a lot of weight on spirit competitions. But, the Long Road Aquavit resume is pretty impressive: