Psychopomp Aqvavit
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
- ABV
- 38%
- Base spirit
- Wheat
- Color
- Clear
- Style
- Unaged Aquavit
Psychopomp Aqvavit is a British aquavit produced in Bristol, England. Inspired by the Danish style, it is led by dill seed and caraway and is bottled at 38% ABV in 700 ml bottles. Psychopomp has described it as the first British Aqvavit, while the British Aquavit collaboration later identified the distillery as England’s first aquavit producer.
The recipe contains sixteen botanicals. Liam Hirt has identified dill seed as the leading botanical, with caraway and celery seed among the other ingredients. Production takes place in small batches on Psychopomp’s handmade 30-litre copper pot stills using a single-shot distillation method. The distillery uses base spirit made from 100% organic British wheat.
The aqvavit is clear and has a strongly herbaceous profile. Psychopomp has promoted it both as a traditional chilled serve and as a cocktail spirit, including in a Gibson Martini and as an alternative to vodka in a Bloody Mary.
Psychopomp Aqvavit received a Silver medal at The Speciality Masters 2022 and another Silver medal, with 77 points, at the London Spirits Competition in 2023. In November 2022 it also became part of the British Aquavit project with Orkney Gin Company and Silver Circle Distillery, created to promote British-made aquavit.
About the producer
Psychopomp Microdistillery
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Psychopomp Microdistillery grew from the home-distilling experiments of Liam Hirt and Danny Walker in Bristol. After several years of building small stills and developing recipes, Psychopomp Ltd was incorporated in April 2014, with the original distillery operating from the basement of Hirt’s home in Montpelier. In 2016 the business expanded into a former A. Jenkins grocery shop on St Michael’s Hill, which remains the home of Psychopomp’s distillery, bar and bottle shop.
Production at Psychopomp is deliberately small-scale, centred on handmade 30-litre copper pot stills and single-shot distillation. Alongside its core and seasonal gins, the distillery produces Aqvavit, absinthe, a coffee digestif and bespoke spirits for other businesses. In 2018 Hirt and Walker also established Circumstance Distillery in Bristol as a sister operation focused on whisky and other spirits produced from fermentation onward.
Psychopomp became a certified B Corporation in October 2022 and also operates with carbon-neutral certification. Its environmental programme includes recycled-glass bottles, refill systems and the use of base alcohol made entirely from organic British wheat.
Danny Walker stepped down as a director of Psychopomp Ltd in October 2023 and ceased to be a person with significant control in April 2024. Liam Hirt remains a director and is currently the company’s sole active person with significant control registered at Companies House.