Brennivín Hot Sauce Edition Single Barrel Aquavit
Reykjavík, Höfuðborgarsvæði, Iceland
- ABV
- 48%
- Base spirit
- Grain (unspecified)
- Color
- Gold
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Aquavit
- Maturation
- 2 years in Ex-Red Pepper Hot Sauce cask
Brennivín Hot Sauce Edition is a limited barrel-aged Icelandic aquavit released as part of Brennivín’s Single Barrel Series. The expression was matured for two years in a single barrel previously used for red-pepper hot sauce and bottled at 48% ABV in a 700 ml format. The front label identifies it as “Hot Sauce Single Barrel Aquavit.”
The release was limited to 234 individually numbered bottles. Its neck label combines the maturation statement with the bottle number. The back label describes the cask influence as producing pronounced pepper notes alongside Brennivín’s characteristic caraway profile, presenting the release as an intentionally intense variation on the standard spirit.
Vínbúðin documented Brennivín Hot Sauce Edition Single Barrel Series under product number 27869 in its 2022 sales records, where 42 bottles were sold during the year. This establishes the edition as commercially available by 2022, although the visible bottle labeling itself does not state a release year.
(The bottle image is an AI reconstruction based on the original Brennivín Hot Sauce Edition label artwork and the bottle style used by the producer.)
Bottle gallery
About the producer
Kveldúlfur Distillery
Reykjavík, Höfuðborgarsvæði, Iceland
Kveldúlfur Distillery is the current producer of Brennivín and operates within the Ölgerðin Egill Skallagrímsson group. Vínbúðin identifies Kveldúlfur Distillery as the producer of the standard 40% Brennivín, while Ölgerðin is listed separately as supplier and owns the Brennivín brand.
Kveldúlfur Distillery is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ölgerðin. Ölgerðin’s financial statements list Kveldúlfur Distillery ehf. among the companies owned 100% by the group, alongside Borg Brugghús and several other beverage businesses.
The wider Ölgerðin business was founded in Reykjavík in 1913 by Tómas Tómasson and developed from a small brewery into Iceland’s largest producer of alcoholic beverages. Today the group owns a number of major Icelandic drinks brands, including Brennivín, Gull and Boli, while Kveldúlfur functions as the distilling entity associated with Brennivín production.
The relationship between Brennivín and Ölgerðin is therefore more recent than the spirit itself. Brennivín originated as a state-produced spirit in 1935; after ÁTVR ended alcohol production in 1992, production moved into private hands. The current structure places production with Kveldúlfur Distillery and brand ownership and distribution with Ölgerðin.
Ölgerðin also manages Brennivín as an international brand. Company filings state that the Brennivín word and figurative marks are registered in the European Union and the United Kingdom, while the Brennivín word mark is also registered in Canada.
