Aurora Spirit Distillery

Tucked into a bay at Årøybukt on the Lyngen fjord, beneath some of the most dramatic peaks in the Arctic, sits the northernmost distillery in the world. Under the Bivrost name — the shimmering bridge between the world of humans and the home of the gods in Norse mythology, long linked in the North to the aurora — Aurora Spirit produces Arctic single malt whisky, gin, vodka and aquavit, all made with glacier water from the Lyngen Alps towering directly above the stills. The setting has a story of its own: the distillery stands on a former Second World War military site, and the army's underground tunnels now serve as cask cellars where the whisky matures slowly in the cold Arctic air. Visitors are welcomed year round — from the Arctic Whisky Experience, a guided tour finishing with three tastings, to cask sampling in the tunnels and an exclusive visit hosted by co-founder Tor Petter W. Christensen. There is even a Bivrost experience in Tromsø city for travellers short on time. Aurora Husky and Aurora Spirit share more than a first name. Both are built by locals in Troms who believe the Arctic is best experienced through the people who live here. We spend years training husky teams; they spend years maturing whisky in Arctic tunnels — the same patience, the same pride in doing things properly. And a bottle of Arctic whisky or gin, made with glacier water from the mountains you just travelled beneath, is a piece of the North you can actually take home.