This is “not to be missed” opportunity for all whisky lovers. Norwegian cruise company Hurtigruten launched new project to improve the whisky’s quality with continuous wave movements over the period of almost a year. The MS Fram Whisky Project takes the ship across the Antarctic Circle and then north to Greenland and Spitsbergen, with en-route stops scheduled in the country where whisky was first produced.
Beside thematic journey, this project include the two 150-litre barrels filled with fine Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky on a board. The 21-year-old and 25-year-old single malt whisky in American oak barrels will journey across four seafaring lines: the northern and southern polar circle, the zero meridian and the equator, on the assumption that the continuous rolling moments, temperature changes and sea ear, will further improve the quality of the single malt. It will have travelled 78,000 miles before being bottled with their own unique label, the “MS Fram Expedition Whisky.” Although the name of the distiller remains a secret, it can be disclosed that it has a near multi-century history of producing some of the world’s finest whiskies, according to Hurtigruten.
“We hope that the continuous rolling wave movements, temperature changes and sea air will further improve the excellent quality of our single malt and have a positive effect on it,” says MS Fram’s captain, Arild Harvik.
“As this is the first time that we have undertaken such a project, we filled a test bottle prior to each journey to check for changes in colour, strength and taste before and after the voyage.”
After just over ten months on board MS Fram and over 126,000 kilometres travelled, the whisky will be bottled in a limited edition of no more than 200 bottles per barrel. Passengers will be able to buy it from the MS Fram on-board shop starting in summer and autumn 2014. It comes with a whisky diary and certificate. It will also be available to sample in the expedition ship’s bar.
The topic of whisky and its origin are also the focus of two MS Fram voyages: a 12-day British Isles sailing and a 13-day itinerary titled The Viking Route, focusing on Scotland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Both cruises start in Bergen. There will be Scottish lecturer and whisky experts onboard.
