杜松子酒復興浪潮橫掃歐洲(2)
Cool in Iceland
冰島很酷
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.
在冰島，自學成才的釀酒師哈利•索科爾森(Halli Thorkelsson)和埃基爾•索科爾森(Egil Thorkelsson)使用當地的北極圈有機大麥、野生杜松子、大黃和手工挑選的本地草藥製作了優質鍋式蒸餾杜松子酒VOR。這對兄弟通過YouTue視頻學習了製作銅製蒸餾器的方法，然後在哈利的車庫裏使用傳統牧場的牛奶冷卻機打造了自己的蒸餾器。他們於2009年在雷克雅未克南部成立了自己的Eimverk釀酒廠，彼時距離冰島陷入金融危機剛剛過去1年。
Although Iceland was very much impacted in 2008 the situation in many ways also paved the way for growth of entrepreneurship overall.
“儘管冰島在2008年元氣大傷，但這種環境卻在很多方面對創業精神形成了整體促進。從過去到現在，這都是冰島精神的體現。”哈利說，“冰島人都是漁民，我們已經習慣了起起伏伏，有的時候可能會過於樂觀。如果沒有健康樂觀的精神，你會很快放棄捕魚。”
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.”
他們起初是爲了釀造一種純正的冰島威士忌，但在完善商業計劃時，他們決定同時生產杜松子酒和阿誇維特（aquavit）——這是一種用土豆和其他富含澱粉的植物釀造的烈性酒。“生產多種產品明顯對我們有好處。只生產威士忌不足以讓我們構建自己的銷售和分銷網絡。”哈利說，“也可以通過其他人或現有的網絡進行銷售，但我們並不喜歡那樣。另外，在等待威士忌陳釀的過程中，我們也很難抑制自己的釀酒激情。”
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 已經向歐洲、香港、澳大利亞和美國出口了威士忌，並且僱傭了6名全職員工。
Cocktail of benefits
經濟效益
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.
與此同時，爲英國貢獻了70%杜松子酒產量的蘇格蘭，則十分期待新推出的杜松子酒旅遊線路能夠爲當地經濟帶來更多收益——尤其是偏遠的郊區。事實上，蘇格蘭威士忌的中心產區在此之前已經成功推行了這種模式。僅在2014年，這些威士忌旅遊中心就吸引了大約150萬遊客，他們在旅行以及商店和咖啡廳中的總花費約5000萬英鎊(7200萬美元)。
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個月，哈里斯釀酒廠迎來了8,000名遊客——達到當地人口的4倍多——附近的哈里斯粗花呢商店也從中受益，並且因此擴大了營業面積。
“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.”
“這座釀酒廠在島上營造了樂觀的氛圍，”厄蘭格說，“他們將此視作這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.
冰島Thorsgardur公司CEO喬•康普頓(Joe Compton)表示，在該公司位於雷克雅未克議會大樓對面的Klaustur酒吧裏，也有越來越多的外國遊客專門品嚐當地的蒸餾酒。
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.”
康普頓曾經在華爾街任職，兩年前搬到冰島首都。他說：“整個冰島都很有創業精神，只要有機會，就有很多冰島人涉足其中。” 他在旅行時發現杜松子酒運動在西班牙加泰羅尼亞和蘇格蘭興起。除了在本地生產杜松子酒外，冰島人還開始生產施奈普斯(schnapps)、阿誇維特和伏特加。“冰島的小釀酒廠數量很多。”康普頓說，“他們正在創造經濟效益，創造行業和就業。”
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會在VOR杜松子酒中加入搗碎的黑莓和一枝迷迭香，而去年夏天推出的杜松子酒和滋補菜單目前的銷量已經達到排名第二的飲料的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.
雖然杜鬆精神不可能在歐洲全面復興，但一滴滴的杜松子酒的確在漸漸地改變着當地的經濟。
