The Spirit That Crosses the Equator Twice Before It Hits Your Glass

Author: Kristen Pope / Source: Atlas Obscura

Bottles of Linie Aquavit, the spirit “matured at sea.”

When pouring Linie Aquavit into cocktails at The NoMad Bar in New York City, bar manager Nathan O’Neill often regales customers with a unique yarn: about the journey that the spirit has traveled to reach their glass.

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The Norwegian spirit, which emits hints of caraway and star anise, isn’t simply shipped directly from a manufacturing facility. Before it’s even bottled, every single drop goes on a lengthy sea voyage that involves crossing the equator twice. It’s also what gives the spirit its name: The word “linie” refers to “line,” or equator.

“It was discovered by chance,” says Romain Jourdan, category product manager of international premium spirits for Arcus Norway, the company that produces Linie Aquavit. In the early 1800s, the vessel owned by the successful local shipowner, Catharina Lysholm, set sail for present-day Indonesia with aquavit and other goods onboard. There, the Lysholm family hoped to find a new market for their wares. But people weren’t interested in purchasing the aquavit that had come aboard the Trondhiems Prøve.

So the ship, still full of aquavit, sailed back to Norway. During the two-year journey, the beverage matured further onboard and cultivated its distinct flavor, which intermingles with a combination of secret spices and herbs. Upon its arrival again in Scandinavia, aquavit was a hit. The drink became so beloved that distillers continued sending it out to sea each time.

Early on, people used aquavit for medicinal purposes. In Norway, it became a comforting drink on frigid winter mornings before working outdoors—partially because it didn’t freeze solid. Now, aquavit is the country’s national drink. It’s usually imbibed neat, often in between bites of traditional Norwegian foods such as smoked, cured, and salted meats, as well as fermented, pickled, and dried wares. People often drink it as a digestif, too, to help settle the heaviness of fatty and salty dishes.

These days, the spirit no longer travels to Indonesia and back, but it does stop at ports on several continents along the way. This is key to making it taste the way it does: The rolling waves, in addition to changing temperatures and humidity levels, help to perfect the aquavit, according to Jourdan. The rocking motions also helps accelerate the spirit’s maturation and pull out the aromas from the casks, not unlike the way a tea bag might do so in warm water. “The movement of aquavit in the barrels extracts more of the sherry cask from the barrels,” he says. “Also, there is a kind of magic happening with temperatures from cold weather in Norway to warm weather in Ecuador, and back to cold weather in Norway.”