Equator-Aged Spirit · Linie Aquavit
Linie Aquavit
📷 Closely related photo — Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
By tradition, every barrel of Linie must physically cross the equator twice by ship before bottling — a practice that began by accident in 1805, when an unsold shipment sailed to the East Indies and back and returned tasting far better than when it left.
Linie Aquavit is a caraway- and star anise-spiced potato spirit matured in oloroso sherry casks that are shipped by sea across the equator and back, a roughly four-month round trip, before bottling. It's smooth, spicy and slightly sweet from the sherry wood.
Why it's made this way: The tradition began with the Oslo-based Lysholm trading family, whose accidental 1805 sea voyage started a practice that Arcus, still headquartered near Oslo, continues today much as it has for two centuries.
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