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ABOUT
Welcome into the woods of Östergötland, Sweden and the small village of Rejmyre – home of our craft spirits distillery.
Since its inception in 1810, Reijmyre Glassworks has in many ways been the focal point of this 14th century village, where handmade crystal glass is still made to this day.
Almqvist Destilleri is located on the grounds of Reijmyre Glassworks and shares the vision of a sustainable future for the village. We use responsibly harvested, locally sourced neutral grain spirit made from winter wheat. Our botanicals are sourced both internationally and foraged locally. Apples and rhubarb come from Bex’s farm, and the lingonberries are gathered from the surrounding forests.
Our sustainability efforts include composting botanicals, using 97% fossil-free energy, and collaborating with energy consultants to, in the future, utilize the excess heat from the glassworks to power our stills.
The distillery is open by appointment only. However, if you wish to enquire about a Spirits or Cocktail Masterclass write to us here: hello@almqvistdestilleri.com
OUr founder
The Bex Almqvist Story
A journey from Stockholm to Reijmyre, via London and the world.
In a world full of young pretenders, Bex Almqvist is very much the real deal.
As a prominent figure in the London cocktail scene during the golden generation of bartenders in the 00s and then as head of global advocacy for Absolut the following decade, Bex has over 20 year’s experience at the cutting edge of the creative cocktail and spirits world. Whether behind a bar with bar spoon and icepick or at a desk slaying spreadsheets, she has, over this period, become one of the most influential members of the global drinks industry.
Her single mindedness and determination saw her arrive in London as an 18 year old and instantly announce herself on the scene, first as a raw young bartender at Schrager hotspot, the Long bar at The Sanderson Hotel then, not long later, bar manager of cutting edge celeb hangout, Lonsdale House in West London.
Winning a slew of cocktail competitions - not least the well know speed comp Rematch - and bartender awards certainly ruffled a few (cock) tail feathers in what was a particularly male dominated industry at the time.
Bex was one of the few of the cocktail industry professionals to make the successful transition from bar to boardroom and undoubtedly paved the way for others to follow.
As confident around a conference table with a million Krona budget as in front of a crowd of thirsty celebs, her unsurpassed knowledge of what consumers want and bartenders need made her a precious resource as both marketeer and brand manager at The Absolut Company in Stockholm.
It was her undeniable skill at creating groundbreaking new trade activations for Absolut that saw her launch the of global sustainability initiative “The Green Hustle” at Athens Bar show to great global acclaim.
Travels with Absolut ensured a unique knowledge of the worldwide scene and, as importantly, a list of influential global connections an arm long. Those years saw her embrace the role of gifted presenter at Tales of the Cocktail NOLA, Bar Covent Berlin and London Cocktail week amongst other global gatherings.
Those racked up airmiles and many, many bar visits across the globe validated her position as judge and committee member at the Tales Spirited Awards too.
Her work back in Sweden was equally important. Working closely with the Absolut distillery in Åhus whilst educating 1000s of bartenders at the Absolut Akademi gave her an expert understanding of the processes involved to make awesome spirit before she’d even slipped on her own (no doubt super stylized) high vis and hard hat.
It’s not just all about bars, spirits and cocktails though, Bex’s typically Swedish love of nature (reflected in her products) means you may find her on a rare day off, either astride one of her two horses.. or trekking through the mountains (she’s a qualified mountain guide).. perhaps off-piste skiing.. or for a those days when she’s feeling a little lazy.. skippering her speed boat around the archipelagos outside her place of birth Stockholm.
It has come as no surprise to her large network of friend, peers and contacts that setting up Almqvist Destilleri has been her next step. She was always destined to stamp her personal flavour footprint on something in the drinks business; it would have been either this or a successful cutting-edge bar in a cool cocktail capital, somewhere in the world.
After such a well-travelled start to her career it seems fitting that Bex should choose an out of the way Swedish location to make her out of this world Swedish spirits.
Lookout drinks world, this lady’s got a pot still and she knows what to do with it.
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what the Media says
Below is a collection of various articles and features written about us. Explore to learn more about our story, cocktails, various passion projects and sustainability initiatives.
