Bon Akevitt
Smithville, Texas, United States
- ABV
- 40%
- Base spirit
- Grain (unspecified)
- Color
- Gold
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Aquavit
- Maturation
- 4 months – 6 months in Used cask
BŌN Akevitt is a Texas interpretation of the Scandinavian classic, crafted entirely from scratch at Bone Spirits in Smithville, TX. Staying true to the distillery’s farm-to-bottle philosophy, the spirit begins with locally grown grain and is distilled on site before being infused with traditional Nordic botanicals.
The recipe features caraway, anise, dill, and clove, creating a warm, aromatic profile rooted in Old World tradition. After infusion, the aquavit is matured for 4–6 months in mature white oak whiskey casks, allowing the spices to integrate and giving the spirit its natural golden hue.
BŌN Akevitt is bottled at 40% ABV and sold in 375 ml format, typically in small batches of about 20 bottles per case. The distillery introduced the product at a dedicated launch event on February 27, 2016, showcasing the work of their Norwegian-Texan distiller, Jarle Lillemoen, who worked at Bone Spirits from September 2010 to April 2016.
A true craft expression from rural Texas, BŌN Akevitt reflects Bone Spirits’ commitment to pure ingredients, hands-on production, and traditional Scandinavian flavor.
This aquavit has long been discontinued and is no longer available from the distillery.
About the producer
Bone Spirits Distillery
Smithville, Texas, United States
Bone Spirits was established in 2010 in Smithville, Texas, by Jeff Peace, with Joe Alecci overseeing much of the early day-to-day distilling operation. Before starting the company, Peace had worked as general counsel for Sidney Frank Importing Company, the US spirits business associated with brands including Jägermeister and Grey Goose.
From the beginning, Bone Spirits followed what it called a “farm-to-bottle” approach. Grain was sourced as locally as possible, with cooking, fermentation and distillation carried out at the Smithville facility, while spent grain was returned to local farms for livestock feed, compost or fertilizer. The early range included Smiths Vodka, Fitch’s Goat Moonshine and Corn Whiskey, Moody June Gin and, from 2015, Bone Bourbon.
The distillery also produced BŌN Akevitt, released in 2016 during the period when Norwegian-born distiller Jarle Lillemoen worked at Bone Spirits. The aquavit became one of the more unusual products in a range otherwise centred on American grain spirits and gin. Contemporary accounts show that it was served alongside the rest of the distillery’s portfolio in the Smithville tasting room.
By the end of the 2010s, Bone Spirits had changed its business model. The public tasting-room operation and the company’s own consumer brands were phased out, but the distillery itself did not close or change ownership. In 2020, the company clarified that it had stopped selling its own brands and was instead producing spirits for other distilleries. Today Bone Spirits focuses primarily on bulk whiskey production, carrying out cooking, fermentation and distillation in-house and offering whiskey ranging from new distillate to mature bourbon, including corn-and-rye, corn-and-wheat and four-grain mash bills.