More Award Winning Spirits Coming from Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids-based craft distillery, Long Road Distillers, the local award-winning distiller in Grand Rapids, has been awarded new honors, including being named USA Aquavit Distillery of the Year at the Berlin International Spirits Competition. Congratulations!

The distillery’s limited-release spirit, Long Road Old Aquavit, received a Gold Medal, besting a range of other spirits entered from around the world.

Over 400 spirits from more than 20 different countries were entered into the 4th Annual Berlin International Spirits Competition. The double blind competition prides itself on a trade-only panel of judges from around Europe who evaluate spirits based on their category and price.

In case you're saying to yourself, what is Aquavit, here it is. Aquavit, from Latin, can mean "water of life," or "water from the vine." Aquavit is an important part of Scandinavian drinking culture, where it is often drunk during festive gatherings, such as Christmas dinners and weddings, and as an aperitif.

Long Road decided to put their Aquavit in a few of their used whisky barrels over a year ago, and let it age. Obviously a very good move.

Just in the last few months, Long Road Aquavit has been named Best of Show and Best of Category at the American Craft Spirits Association Awards in Nashville, TN, and Best of Class and Best of Category at the American Distilling Institute’s Annual Judging of Craft Spirits in Baltimore, MD. It has won similar honors in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and San Diego. Now, the world!