Cool in Iceland

冰岛很酷

In Iceland, self-taught distillers Halli and Egill Thorkelsson use homegrown Arctic circle organic barley, wild juniper berries, rhubarb and handpicked native herbs to create premium pot distilled VOR gin. After watching YouTube clips explaining how to make a copper still, the brothers used old dairy-farm milk chillers to build their own stills in Halli’s garage. They opened their Eimverk distillery, just south of Reykjavik, in 2009, only a year after Iceland’s financial meltdown.

在冰岛，自学成才的酿酒师哈利•索科尔森(Halli Thorkelsson)和埃基尔•索科尔森(Egil Thorkelsson)使用当地的北极圈有机大麦、野生杜松子、大黄和手工挑选的本地草药制作了优质锅式蒸馏杜松子酒VOR。这对兄弟通过YouTue视频学习了制作铜制蒸馏器的方法，然后在哈利的车库里使用传统牧场的牛奶冷却机打造了自己的蒸馏器。他们于2009年在雷克雅未克南部成立了自己的Eimverk酿酒厂，彼时距离冰岛陷入金融危机刚刚过去1年。

Although Iceland was very much impacted in 2008 the situation in many ways also paved the way for growth of entrepreneurship overall.

“尽管冰岛在2008年元气大伤，但这种环境却在很多方面对创业精神形成了整体促进。从过去到现在，这都是冰岛精神的体现。”哈利说，“冰岛人都是渔民，我们已经习惯了起起伏伏，有的时候可能会过于乐观。如果没有健康乐观的精神，你会很快放弃捕鱼。”

Their original goal was to create an authentically Icelandic whisky, but when developing their business plan they decided to make gin and aquavit — a spirit distilled from potatoes or other starchy plants — as well. “It was clear to us that it was beneficial to have more than one product. Just whisky was not enough for us to build our own sales and distribution network,” said Halli. “The alternative would have been to sell through someone else’s or existing networks and that was not appealing to us. There is also the fact that it is hard to stop the passion for distilling while the whisky ages.”

他们起初是为了酿造一种纯正的冰岛威士忌，但在完善商业计划时，他们决定同时生产杜松子酒和阿夸维特（aquavit）——这是一种用土豆和其他富含淀粉的植物酿造的烈性酒。“生产多种产品明显对我们有好处。只生产威士忌不足以让我们构建自己的销售和分销网络。”哈利说，“也可以通过其他人或现有的网络进行销售，但我们并不喜欢那样。另外，在等待威士忌陈酿的过程中，我们也很难抑制自己的酿酒激情。”

Today, ahead of releasing their Floki whisky, Eimverk already exports gin to Europe, Hong Kong, Australia and the US, and employs six staff full-time.

如今，在推出Floki威士忌之前，Eimverk 已经向欧洲、香港、澳大利亚和美国出口了威士忌，并且雇佣了6名全职员工。

Cocktail of benefits

经济效益

Meanwhile in Scotland, where 70% of the UK’s gin is now produced, hopes are high that a newly launched gin trail for tourists can bring money in to local economies — especially in outlying rural areas — something Scotch whisky centres have already achieved. In 2014 alone these whisky visitor centres attracted around 1.5 million tourists who spent almost ￡50m ($72m) on tours and in the shops and cafes.

与此同时，为英国贡献了70%杜松子酒产量的苏格兰，则十分期待新推出的杜松子酒旅游线路能够为当地经济带来更多收益——尤其是偏远的郊区。事实上，苏格兰威士忌的中心产区在此之前已经成功推行了这种模式。仅在2014年，这些威士忌旅游中心就吸引了大约150万游客，他们在旅行以及商店和咖啡厅中的总花费约5000万英镑(7200万美元)。

In the first three months of 2016, the Isle of Harris distillery welcomed 8,000 visitors — more than four times the local population — and the Harris tweed shop next door has also benefitted from the overflow and has expanded its premises in anticipation of demand.

2016年前3个月，哈里斯酿酒厂迎来了8,000名游客——达到当地人口的4倍多——附近的哈里斯粗花呢商店也从中受益，并且因此扩大了营业面积。

“The distillery really has created a sense of optimism on the island,” Erlanger said. “They talk of it as the biggest thing to have happened in a generation.”

“这座酿酒厂在岛上营造了乐观的氛围，”厄兰格说，“他们将此视作这一代人最重大的事件。”

Similarly, in Iceland, at the Klaustur bar opposite the parliament building in Reykjavik, foreign visitors are increasingly asking specifically for locally distilled drinks, according to Joe Compton, CEO of the bar’s owners, Thorsgardur.

冰岛Thorsgardur公司CEO乔•康普顿(Joe Compton)表示，在该公司位于雷克雅未克议会大楼对面的Klaustur酒吧里，也有越来越多的外国游客专门品尝当地的蒸馏酒。

Compton, who moved to the Icelandic capital two years ago after working in finance on Wall Street, said: “Iceland as a whole is very entrepreneurial. If there’s an opportunity, there are a lot of citizens who are ready to step up.” On his travels, he has noted the rise of the gin movement in Catalonia in Spain, as well as in Scotland. As well as locally produced gin, Icelanders have also turned to making schnapps, aquavit and vodka. “The number of small distillers in Iceland is very tangible,” said Compton. “It’s creating economy, industry and jobs.”

康普顿曾经在华尔街任职，两年前搬到冰岛首都。他说：“整个冰岛都很有创业精神，只要有机会，就有很多冰岛人涉足其中。” 他在旅行时发现杜松子酒运动在西班牙加泰罗尼亚和苏格兰兴起。除了在本地生产杜松子酒外，冰岛人还开始生产施奈普斯(schnapps)、阿夸维特和伏特加。“冰岛的小酿酒厂数量很多。”康普顿说，“他们正在创造经济效益，创造行业和就业。”

Klaustur serves VOR gin with muddled blackberry and a sprig of rosemary, and the gin and tonics menu launched last summer now sells three times more than the next most popular drink, he said.

他表示，Klaustur会在VOR杜松子酒中加入捣碎的黑莓和一枝迷迭香，而去年夏天推出的杜松子酒和滋补菜单目前的销量已经达到排名第二的饮料的3倍。

While clearly the juniper-based spirit cannot completely refloat Europe, it is certainly making a difference to local economies on the fringes, drop by drop.

虽然杜松精神不可能在欧洲全面复兴，但一滴滴的杜松子酒的确在渐渐地改变着当地的经济。