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Eimverk distillery

Iceland is probably not the first place to spring to mind when you think about single malt. Unsurprisingly as Eimverk Distillery is Icelands’ first and only whisky distillery. Produced from 100% Icelandic grown barley (primarily Kría; a fast growing, two-row strain similar to the Bere barley used by Bruichladdich. The barley strain is pretty hardy thriving during the short, intense Icelandic summer, but has an incredibly low sugar yield and requiring more than usual. The result is a sweet bread-like American style malt with sharp spice notes. One of the most interesting, or merely unusual depending on your preference, features of the range is that their Smoked Reserve uses sheep dung rather than the traditional peat smoke. This method imparts unusually sweet though quite pungent smoky notes.

Having opened in 2009 there’s not a lot of whisky to be found, in fact their primary product is currently called ‘Young Icelandic Malt’ having not yet reached the three years needed to be called whisky. It’s hard to come by outside of Iceland and so far seems to be pretty divisive

  • though it’s well worth taking a trip round the distillery if you get the chance. It’s incredibly small scale, highly automated and looks nothing like a distillery but they do have a range of whiskies and young malts for you to peruse.

  • Among those I’ve shared it with most will go so far as to call it interesting, some refuse to touch the stuff but quite a few are looking forward to older bottles making their way to market.

Eimverk factsheet

Name Pronounced AKA Region Country of Origin
Eimverk Flóki Iceland
Status Active Whisky Type Website Tours Available
Active 0 - Present Malt Eimverk Not Available
Manager Distiller Blender Owned by Parent Group
Egill Thorkelsson

Interesting Eimverk links:

Grain to Glass in Iceland

Can I tour Eimverk?

Yes Eimverk distillery is tourable. On Trip Advisor the distillery has been rated as excellent by 130 of 135 tours to date. This gives Eimverk an overall rating of 5.0

Latest reviews

More Than a Distillery Tour by Ynna

I've made a habit out of visiting distilleries, breweries, and wineries while traveling. The tour at Eimverk was one of my favorites. The facility is pretty small, so the tour of the equipment is relatively short. However, it's the time in the tasting room that makes this experience really special. There were 12 tastings (1 brennivín, while the rest were almost evenly split between gin and whiskey). Rock was great at providing information not only on the drinks and the distillery but also general Icelandic culture and history. I really enjoyed hearing his personal stories.The distillery sits outside of Reykjavik, but don't let that discourage you. It's very easily accessible by bus.The only downside is that, due to regulations, they can't sell you alcohol at the distillery, so prepare to take notes or photos of what you want to load up on at duty free. :)

Great Whiskey. by Kimberly E

This place is incredible. Paul was knowledgeable and an absolutely good time. Their distillery is beautiful and the whiskey and gin are great! This was probably one of the highlights of our trip. We tried some great whiskey and laughed nonstop. Would definitely come back to see them again.

You Want Whiskey? You‘ll Get Some!! by Pascale B

We’d do that Whiskey-Tasting all over again!!Our „guide“ Rock was really nice and very entertaining. In addition to a lot of information about the Islandic Whiskey and Whiskey in general he knew how to entertain a group of strangers while waiting for their next glass.Like he‘s a real language and accent immitating talent!!😅We got to taste every single Whiskey and Gin they produce at Eimverk (13 glasses!) and one Welcome Gin and Tonic extra.As we arrived about 30min earlier we even got another extra Whiskey by the Boss!!The tour of the Destillery was short but informative and let‘s be honest, we came for the Whiskey and not for the machines😉.So again, great tour, great „guide“, great day!

Rating Reviews
Excellent 130
Very good 5
Average 0
Poor 0
Terrible 0