“It takes 12 years to make a 12-year-old whiskey”

The trademark of the month of October is the word mark Flóki. It is owned by Eimverk ehf. and is used for whiskey brewed in the town of Garðabæn from Icelandic barley grown in Bjálmholt near Hella in S-Iceland.

Egill Gauti Þorkelsson is one of the owners and employees of this family business of 10 people. He says that the name Flóki is a reference to Hrafna-Flóki and the history of Nordic people as explorers who did not follow the beaten path. The Flóki whiskey is special and developed from the ground up by the founders of Eimverk, who went their own way with the development with the goal of creating a good Icelandic whiskey from Icelandic ingredients, rather than a decent Icelandic imitation of a Scotch whisky.

One can google how to make whiskey

The history of Flóki whiskey can be traced back to 2009 when the idea of brewing whiskey first came to Egill, his father and brothers when they were wondering what could be done with the barley they grew in their fields in S-Iceland. They founded the company in 2011. When asked if they had any prior knowledge of whisky-making, he says no, but says that access to information is such today that one can simply google: "how to make a good whiskey" and get detailed instructions on the process. "Making whiskey is inherently simple, but it's incredibly difficult to make good whiskey because there are so many things that affect the taste," he says. Although the father and sons did not know much about whiskey production in the beginning, they all had knowledge of production processes and experience in brewing all kinds of home-made drinks, which helped them get started. However, they had to make a total of 163 distillation experiments to find out how best to use the low-sugar Icelandic barley to make good whiskey.

The first bottle sold in 2014

The development, production, and sale of whiskey is patient work because, as Egill points out, it takes 12 years to produce 12-year-old whiskey. The first bottle of Flóki whiskey was sold in 2014. Since then, the company has increased production year by year, and today it produces the equivalent of approx. 50,000 bottles per year. Consumer response has exceeded expectations. Most of the whiskey is sold to tourists in the DutyFree at Keflavik Airport, but it is also possible to buy Flóki whiskey in 20 countries around the world. All the whiskey that has been put on the market so far has sold out. Based on high demand, production is expected to double or triple over the next two years.

A strong, registered trademark is important

Egill says that a strong trademark with a good connection to the product's origin and history is very valuable in the beverage industry. The connection to ancient explorers and pioneers is strong through the name and appearance of the product. The story behind the production also helps a lot with the sale and the fact that Eimverk takes care of the entire process "from barley to cup", which is very rare in this sector. In addition to its special history, Flóki whiskey is special because of the Icelandic barley, which has less sugar than the barley usually used in whiskey and gives a rich and spicy taste, and of course because of the pure Icelandic water used. The whiskey has received good reviews from world-renowned whiskey experts and recently won a gold medal in the London Spirit Awards and has a score of over 90% in Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible. "The goal is that in the future, Icelandic whiskey will be known as a quality product all over the world and reach a similar position as Japanese whiskey has reached in recent years," says Egill.

An unexpected side business in tasting tours

"It's often the case that if you're doing something exciting, people are interested in it, and when people heard about whiskey production in Garðabær, they started knocking on the door and wanted a taste and more information," says Egill. These visits gave rise to an unexpected sideline for the company, and now Eimverk offers two whiskey-tasting tours a day, which have proven to be very popular among tourists and Icelandic groups. "And now we can finally sell our own whiskey directly from the factory according to new Icelandic laws and our store in Garðabær is open every day."

Trademark V0089689 registered in 2013

The Flóki whiskey was conceived as an export product right from the start and careful attention has been paid to trademark protection in the markets where the product is sold, as the trademark is one of the company's most valuable assets. An application was made for registration of the word mark Flóki to the ISIPO in 2013 and it was registered in August of the same year for whiskey in class 33 and the production of alcohol in class 40. The registration of the mark was then renewed for ten years this autumn. The trademark was registered at the European Union's Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO, in 2014, and in the same year, an international process was started at the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, based on the Icelandic application, to get the trademark registered in China and the United States.

Staff chooses the trademark of the month

The trademark of the month is a new initiative at the ISIPO, modeled after a similar concept at other Nordic and Baltic intellectual property offices. The aim of choosing one trademark to discuss each month is to raise awareness of the importance of trademark registration and promote the activities of the ISIPO.