The earliest known reference to “aquavit” is found in a letter from 1531 from Eske Bille to Olav Engelbrektsson. The letter, accompanying a package, offers the archbishop: “some water which is called Aqua Vite and is a help for all sort of illness which a man can have both internally and externally”.

Spirits were produced from grain, and in Norway with frequent crop failures this created problems. In 1756 came the ban on distilling. The liquor during this time was of rather poor quality. Christopher Hammer is called the Norwegian father of aquavit for his famous thesis on Norwegian aquavit (1776) on distillation and flavouring of spirits.

During the 1700s potato become more common in Scandinavia and quickly took over for grain in Norwegian liquor production. It was an all year spirit, often connected to rituals, superstition, good luck and reward.

In 1816 home distilling was allowed again for anyone who owned land. Home production quickly took off resulting in drunkenness, violence and accidents. In 1833 there were about 10,000 registered distilleries in Norway. In 1845 the number was reduced to 700, and in 1850 only 40 distilleries were left. Until 2002, only one government-owned company was allowed to produce spirits, until legislation was changed to allow also privately held companies to distil and sell their products.