Arcus buys most of the spirit from Norwegian distilleries. Currently, there are four such distilleries that process crude alcohol from potatoes. The crude alcohol is transported to Arcus’s rectification plant at Hamar, where it is processed to pure 96% alcohol.
The purified spirit is transported by road tanker to Arcus’s plant in Oslo and then pumped into large, stainless steel storage tanks.
The wines and spirit division at Arcus conducts all the production of Norwegian produced spirits, such as aquavit, vodka, gin, liqueurs and bitters. Some of these products, e.g. vodka and gin, skall not be stored and are sent directly for bottling. Aquavits and liqueurs shall often be matured in oak barrels, and hence they are stored in barrels before equalising and bottling.
The production inside the building is arranged in such a way to optimize the force of gravity when transferring the spirits. Since the spirit contains a number of volatile and evaporative compounds, it should be handled with extreme care when being transferred. By exploiting the force of gravity wherever possible, thus reducing the need for mechanical pumping, any loss of volatile taste compounds is minimised.