Viking Vodka at the Festival

York Gin makers launch Viking vodka

We’re known for our range of history-inspired gins – and now we’ve launched a Viking-inspired vodka.

We’re introducing 866 Viking Vodka at a special tasting on Tuesday 17th February during our home city’s Jorvik Viking Festival, which runs all week.

This vodka brings together the best of Scandinavia and Yorkshire. We use a neutral spirit distilled in Yorkshire from grain grown on Yorkshire farms. We flavour it with sea buckthorn – a tough coastal plant that thrives through Scandinavian winters – along with berries that were a key part of the Viking diet.

We developed 866 Viking Vodka at York Distillery, our boutique distillery where we also run tastings and gin-making classes.

866 marks the year the Vikings permanently settled in what is now York, which they called Jorvik.

You’ll spot our York Gin cat on the tamper seal. Cats were important in Viking culture – often given as wedding gifts – and legend says the Norse goddess Freya’s chariot was pulled by two giant cats.

We’re delighted with this new vodka. It connects directly to York’s history, but above all it’s a clean, characterful vodka. Developed and made in York, it’s another spirit we’re proud to produce at York Distillery – a home of York Gin.

Vikings in York!