Norrbottens Destilleri, Gin from the Arctic Circle with Birch and Blossoms
Norrbottens Destilleri is a small distillery in Töre in northern Sweden, founded in 2016 by Dennis Bejedal. They distill in small batches using plants from the landscapes along the Kalix River. The distillery gained fame with its Mountain Dry Gin, which was awarded the Master title by the Gin Masters in 2020.
Norrbottens Destilleri stands for Swedish craft gin from Norrbotten, the country's northernmost province, where the winter is long and the summer light never ends. The house's philosophy is "fusion," and it means this literally. A plant from their own backyard meets one from far away, and it is from this distance that character is born. Birch leaf and Timut pepper, meadowsweet and cardamom, sea buckthorn and jalapeño.
In 2016, a poker player moves north
Dennis Bejedal taught himself how to distill after traveling the world for thirteen years as a professional poker player.
Born in Stockholm, he now lives in Pålänge, a village of about four hundred inhabitants on the Bothnian Bay. The switch from card table to still sounds like a break, but it was probably more of a continuation by other means, as both require patience and a feel for probabilities.
"The proximity to nature, the sea, and the mountains shaped me; the aromas hit you the moment you open the door," says Dennis about moving to the north. He founded the distillery in 2016, and by the end of 2019, the first bottles were in stores. He designed the highly automated facility in Töre together with Anders Hansson, who is responsible for the company's technical operations.
The province that gives the house its name is Sweden's northernmost. To the west lies Lapland, to the south Västerbotten, to the east Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The distances are long, the weather is fickle, and plants grow quickly because in summer there is hardly any night to hold them back.
In the meantime, the distillery has also become a place you can visit. Located directly on the E4 coastal road, the house opened its doors after months of renovation, and alongside Dennis, you will find Marie behind the counter.
From mountain juniper to rhubarb cake
The range includes two gins as cornerstones, as well as aquavit, vodka, liqueur, and glögg, along with a series of small special editions.
The Mountain Dry Gin sources its plants from the fells, using birch leaf, mountain angelica, and Timut pepper. Its counterpart, the Forest Dry Gin, heads into the taiga and works with pine, spruce, and clove. If you are looking for the difference in the glass, you will find it where one remains bright and citric, while the other becomes resinous and dark.
Alongside these are an aquavit with caraway, dill, and Batak pepper, and a vodka made from organic wheat and soft spring water. There is also a liqueur made from cold-pressed rhubarb with a hint of vanilla, which is simply called "Rhubarb Cake" in Swedish. The house's current glögg relies on sea buckthorn and jalapeño—a combination you have to come up with first.
Additionally, there are editions that are released only once: a blueberry cake liqueur, a Sun Gin made from grapefruit, lemon, and orange, and a fruit brandy made from organic Arctic raspberries. We stock the Mountain Dry Gin and the Glögg Gin Liqueur with Meadowsweet, both in 500 ml bottles.
Eleven plants, one infusion box, lots of steam
The house's signature style lies in treating every plant differently, rather than throwing everything into the same pot.
Some of the botanicals macerate in alcohol before distillation, releasing their powerful aromas. Another portion hangs fresh in an infusion box above the still, through which only the steam passes, ensuring that only the fine notes are captured. In the Mountain Dry Gin, eleven plant substances come together in this way.
The common thread running through the entire range is a river. The Kalix River rises in the Kebnekaise mountains, Sweden's highest massif, and flows into the Baltic Sea far to the south. Anything that grows between the source and the mouth is a candidate for a bottle, and this standard binds the house to its own landscape.
The calendar is also tied to nature, as birch leaves are only useful in late spring when they are young and sticky, and meadowsweet blooms only around midsummer. If you arrive too late, you wait a year.
The way the house handles its raw materials has sharpened over the years. Today's bottlings work with ingredients from organic farming, from soils near and far that are managed responsibly. Every bottle is finally dipped by hand in wax, which takes longer than a shrink sleeve but makes each bottle look a little different.
Master at the Gin Masters 2020
At The Gin Masters competition organized by The Spirits Business, the Mountain Dry Gin received the Master title in 2020—the highest level of this tasting—in addition to a gold medal.
As early as 2019, the Berlin International Spirits Competition had awarded it Gold with 94 points. The following year, both New York and Berlin named the house the Swedish Gin Distillery of the Year. The IWSC in London and the Cathay Pacific competition in Hong Kong awarded it silver.
In China, a Gold and a Best Value Gold medal were added at the China Wine & Spirits Awards 2020, followed by Best Value in Double Gold in 2021. The USA Spirits Ratings rated the gin 87 points and Silver that same year. Ten medals in three years for a distillery in a village on the Gulf of Bothnia. Hats off.
Awards honor the producer, not us, but they explain why a gin from the far north ends up on tasting tables in New York and Hong Kong. Particularly remarkable is the speed, as not even a year passed between the first bottle going on sale and the Master title.
Two bottles from the far north
From this assortment, we carry the two bottles that best showcase the house's character.
The Mountain Dry Gin with 43.5 percent alcohol belongs in a dry tonic, with a slice of grapefruit instead of the usual lemon, so that the Timut pepper retains its citrus tone. The Glögg Gin Liqueur with 15 percent alcohol is drunk ice-cold, enjoyed neat after a meal or over plenty of ice, as warmth would carry away the meadowsweet blossom.
The Glögg Gin Liqueur is particularly suitable as a gift because it finds a place on every table during Advent, yet doesn't taste like standard mulled wine. The Mountain Dry Gin is aimed more at people who already have a handful of bottles in the cupboard and are looking for one that sounds different from the rest.
If you are looking for a comparison with German juniper, you will find it at Windspiel Manufaktur from the Vulkaneifel region, and on the gin shelf, you will find neighbors from other countries. Sweet bottles of this kind can be collected on the liqueur shelf, and you can find what else is being distilled under spirits.
You can see what is currently in stock in the grid below. The north has a short flowering season and a long winter, and both are represented here in the same row of bottles.
