What is aquavit?

Caraway seed or dill seed must determine the flavour. Without one of those two, according to category 24 of Regulation (EU) 2019/787, it is not aquavit.

The basis is ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, flavoured with a distillate of plants or spices. Natural flavouring substances and flavouring preparations may also be used, but the flavour must come largely from distillates of Carum carvi L. or Anethum graveolens L. Essential oils are prohibited, bitter substances must not dominate the flavour, and the dry extract content remains below 1.5 grams per 100 millilitres. The minimum alcohol content is 37.5% by volume.

Potatoes and grains provide the base alcohol. Norwegian aquavit usually comes from potato spirit, Danish and Swedish more often from grain alcohol.

For the protected designation Norsk Akevitt, the potato spirit must be made in Norway from at least 95 per cent Norwegian potatoes. In Norway the highest permitted strength is 60% by volume; most bottles are between 37.5 and 43%. Besides caraway and dill, coriander, fennel, anise, star anise, grains of paradise and citrus peel are often included.

Cask maturation is not prescribed for aquavit at European level, but in Norway it is standard, often in old sherry casks.

Norsk Akevitt requires at least six months of maturation in casks smaller than 1,000 litres and at least twelve months in larger casks. During that maturation, according to the Store norske leksikon, 3 to 5 per cent evaporates every year, the so-called angels' share. As a result the colour ranges from almost clear to dark brown; according to the trade magazine Drinks International, caramel may be used for colour.

Linie aquavit matures on board a ship that crosses the equator twice, during which the cask is constantly moving and goes through considerable temperature changes.

According to the Store norske leksikon, such a sea voyage now takes about four months, and the voyage has been shown to have a major effect on the drink. The idea comes from nineteenth-century merchant shipping, when casks of aquavit went along to the East Indies and people noticed that the returned casks tasted different. The label of a linie bottle often states which ship carried the casks and when.

The oldest written source on aquavit in Norway dates from 13 April 1531, when the Danish governor Eske Bille recommended the remedy in a shipment to Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson.

De naam komt van het Latijnse aqua vitae, levenswater. Het Noorse drankverbod werd in 1927 opgeheven en het productiemonopolie verdween in 2005; sindsdien zijn er in Noorwegen ongeveer veertig stokerijen bijgekomen. In 2020 kreeg Norsk Akevitt de Europese beschermde geografische aanduiding. In Nederland geldt NIX18: alcohol wordt niet verkocht aan wie jonger is dan 18 jaar.