Tor Petter W. Christensen, Aurora Spirit Distillery, Norway

Aurora Spirit is the world’s northernmost Whisky distillery – situated deep within the Arctic Circle in northern Norway. Tor Petter W. Christensen is Founder and CEO and explains how he left a successful business career, to a successful and pioneering distillery owner.

You and your distillery / whisky / brand

Andrew Stark: Hi Tor. Norway isn’t renown for it’s whisky. What inspired you to begin with?
Tor Christensen:
It all started when a friend visited Scotland (2010) and came back telling me about this really cool experience called ‘whisky distillery.’ I knew nothing about it – and I didn’t really drink whisky either. I thought he’d lost his mind! But this idea of a distillery wouldn’t go away – so I did lots of research into it and found it very interesting.
However, I was MD at an ecological company and we were busy, so I tucked the idea away. However, the idea was persistent and by the end of 2013 I looked into it a lot more seriously.

AS: What conclusions did you make from your research?
TC:
Where we are in Norway is remote but also has great experiences such as the Arctic Circle and the Northern Lights. I thought if we could combine the travel industry with our distillery, then it would be interesting.

AS: So once you’d decided to take your ideas seriously, what enabled you to start making it a reality.
TC:
We got some government funding and flew to Islay for research. We landed at the airport at 10 in the morning and headed off to Ardbeg Distillery. It just blew my mind. Sat in their dramming room at just after midday (with a whisky-induced ‘glow’) I just thought, “this is brilliant.” What a business – I was immersed with the culture, the smell, the tasting, the history – it fulfilled so much and ticked all the boxes for me. And this was the first of the visits – we went on to visit eight distilleries on the Island, met loads of supportive people and got inspired by them. And that was it. I decided to do this myself.

AS: How easy is it to establish a distillery in Norway?
TC:
It’s really hard – probably one of the hardest places to do it in Europe. Norway is conservative in terms of alcohol – the taxes are crazy and the government aren’t too supportive. It took years of planning to get things going.

AS: You’ve clearly been motivated by the Scottish Whisky Industry – but did you set out to replicate this, or create something different?
TC:
One of our advantages in the Norwegian market is our links to Scotland – through friends, contacts and business partners who support us as well as educate us too. But at the same time it was important for us to create the other products too – such as vodka and Norwegian aquavit and own gin.
Because of this, we engaged with a skilled engineer to product a still capable of producing these different drinks. This meant we couldn’t go for a traditional pot still / spirit still configuration – but more of a hybrid with bubble plates (like a continuous still has).
It’s very sophisticated and ‘modern’ but it’s also made bespoke for us.

The Norwegian whisky industry

AS: What is the Norwegian whisky market like?
TC:
The Norwegian market is very small – Sweden, for example, is much larger. But it’s growing. Norway has been ‘Cognac country’ but more and more are switching over to whisky.
Up until 2005 there was only one company which was allowed to produce strong liquids in Norway – there was a monopoly on production from 1922 all the way to 2005 then it took some years to get going. From 2005 to 2011/12 there was only one other producer but now it’s on the rise; there’s about 11 producers (of whisky) in the country.

AS: Are these large producers?
TC:
No – we are all small-timers. [Note: I am using the phrases Tor does to represent his character}. We are the largest, and compared to Scottish distilleries, we are small. So the industry is very small and niche still.

AS: What trends and influences are seen in the market?
TC:
The producers are so young with the oldest product being 7-8 years old,  so it’s very experimental right now.
But this is also helping us to define our market. We’re not under the brand of ‘scotch’ which I support could be limiting, so we can experiment a lot more with different cask types and production methods.

AS: So is there anything specifically ‘Norwegian’ in your experimentation?
TC:
We have a production of Aquavit – it’s a Scandinavian distilled liquor which we mature here. We’re then transferring these used casks to whisky maturation. We’re having some great success as it’s generating some very interesting flavours which really represent where we come from.
For us it’s great as we can become more niche and do some really special things.

AS: You’re also using a Solera* system which is more commonly used in wine / brandy / sherry production. 
(* Fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years.)
TC: Yes – that takes a lot of money and a lot of time. It will take about five years to build this up. It also means some of our whisky won’t be released as a single malt but will go into different blends.

AS: How much importance do you put into locality or provenance to create a unique product?
TC:
This is one of the things I saw very early – when you visit a Scotch whisky distillery they are really trying to tell you their unique selling points; what’s so special, why I should buy their whisky. The Scots are really skilled at doing this!
Our unique selling point is that we are the northernmost whisky distillery in the world. We want to make use of that, but also to represent it more in our product by using local barley which is a really cool project.
The light conditions up here are really special (long winters and 24 hr sun in summer). This makes for particular growth patterns for barley which creates different yields and flavour results to that of Scottish barley. Although the yield is comparatively low, the taste is really special.

AS: Scotland has defined whisky regions which traditionally would define the style produced there. Is it too early to say what will define a Norwegian whisky?
TC:
Yes, it’s too early. It’s going in so many directions with the different distilleries, but ‘we’ (the 10/11 distilleries in Norway) are getting together to discuss this.
But I don’t know if a direction can be or should be set. All the elements are too varied – from where the barley comes from onwards. Plus there are such huge differences in location. Our temperatures in the North are really extreme which makes growing raw materials really different than in the south of the country.  Although Scotland has variances, they are perhaps not as extreme! 

AS: How are you expecting the drinkers of traditional whiskies (Scotch, Irish) to react to Norwegian whisky?
TC:
Aside from the experimentation, we’re using bourbon and sherry casks which Scotch whisky drinkers will recognise – although in small sizes.
Our ratio is about 60% bourbon, 30% sherry and 10% experimentation, so although we are doing things our own way, I don’t feel we are alienating ourselves from the wider market.

Marketing whisky

AS: Apart from import/export issues, what barriers do you see when entering new markets?
TC:
It’s really difficult to get into new markets. It’s so big and so swamped, however the interest for whisky (and something ‘different’) really opened lots of doors for us.
Our “9 Worlds” series of whisky became really popular and each release is really anticipated. We only produce 3,000 bottles for each release so it’s genuinely limited.
Before this series, we exported to four countries. Since we started selling out whisky in 2020, this immediately jumped up to 12.

AS: In the UK we’re lucky to have specialist retailers and tasting events. Is this an approach you plan to take?
TC:
In Norway it’s more difficult. To have an event where the purpose is only to serve spirits in this way is actually not allowed.
Pre-covid, there were 5-6 whisky festivals and there are some whisky clubs but generally in the larger cities. So we have a challenge to make the country more aware of what we’re doing. The knowledge of whisky is limited although it is on the rise but cannot be compared to the UK.

AS: So how did you approach getting the Aurora Spirit name into the market?
TC:
We started building our brand before we had any products and obviously have a lot of Norwegian heritage to utilise.
This meant people had something visual to recognise as our journey unfolded, and although we don’t have the traditional heritage of Scotland (in whisky terms) we do have our own innovative approach which starts to define us.
Also, the manager at Bruichladdich Distillery gave some great advice which helped us in different ways. He recommended we look at producing other products and develop our visitor centre too.
By doing this (aquavit etc) we could introduce our brand and location to the market quickly which created a fan-base.

AS: How did you know that this approach was working?
TC:
Well we started distilling our  whisky in 2017 and launched our first whisky in 2020. So we used that three year period building awareness with other products so by the time the whisky was released the demand went crazy – it became difficult to get hold of!

AS: Do you think introductory products, such as gin, helped open doors for you?
TC:
Absolutely, and it helps with cash flow of course! Different products and price points do help introduce our brand to people. However, we launched out whisky during Covid, so feel we’ve missed lots of time creating experiences for people.

AS: If I were opening a distillery next year, what three bits of advice would you give me based on your experiences?
TC:
1. Access to funds and create cash flow. It costs more than you will ever think.
2. Competence. You need the right knowledge or you need to find it.
3. Think ‘marketing’ from the very beginning.

AS: I can see you have lots of whisky on your shelf at the distillery. When you’re not sampling your own whisky – what’s in your glass?
TC:
I like Speyside whiskies – Craigellachie, Macallan; the sweeter side. If I’m feeling more adventurous, I may try something smoky.


Tor Christensen is Co-Founder of Aurora Spirits Distillery – the world’s northernmost Whisky distillery –  situated deep within the Arctic Circle in northern Norway.
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