Altia Opens New Distillery in Sweden
Altia, a leading wine and spirits company in the Nordic and Baltic countries, has opened a new distillery at Sundsvall in Sweden. All of Altia’s Swedish aquavit production will be concentrated to the facility, named the OP Anderson Distillery.
The beverages that will be produced in the new distillery are flagship OP Anderson Aquavit along with other Swedish snaps classics such as Skane Aquavit, Gammal Norrlands Aquavit, Hallands Flader and Baska Droppar.
The new facility is operated in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Unimedic and is situated in Matfors, Sundsvall. The idea is to gather all parts of the aquavit production in one location: spice distillation, spice extraction, blending and maturation of Swedish aquavit, things that ensure the preservation of the cultural heritage on Swedish land in terms of beverages.
“Everything having to do with flavour will be done at the OP Anderson Distillery. Gathering everything in one place is a great advantage in terms of experimentation. Here we can experiment with new flavors and invest in creativity and innovation,” explains Jonas Odland, Master Blender at Altia.
The move to Sundsvall has been made from, among other places, Vin & Sprit’s old factory in Ahus, Skane. The things transported north include a large number of oak barrels previously used for maturation of Cognac, Oloroso sherry and Scottish malt whiskey. The barrels, now thoroughly impregnated with flavouring, help give the classic Swedish aquavits their unique flavour. In addition, nine so-called resting oak barrels were transported, each with a capacity of 5,000 liters and a hundred years of history, initially for brandy storage but currently used to age OP Anderson for six months before bottling.
“The heart of production is our three distillation pots. We have acquired real copper pots, which were central to the original method for making aquavit. Previously we used stainless steel pots but now we have chosen to return to traditional methods instead. The challenge for me as Master Blender has consisted of getting the spiced spirits to taste the same with this equipment as with the old equipment,” says Jonas Odland.
