Craft Gin Tasting In Reykjavik’s Old Harbor: Meet The Maker

We were served their gin as part of a gin tasting and had to go check out the distillery. The gin tasting was extremely insightful and delicious. We are bring 5 bottles home to Florida.

Amazing time, delicious drinks! A great time for sure!

Very informative walkthrough of the process to make gin, and of the unique Icelandic ingredients he incorporated! Cocktails after were delicious!

This is a must do tour for gin lovers, or just Iceland lovers happy to give it a try, and the gin is exceptional! The distiller, Biggie, talked us through how the gin is made and their passion for creating a really high quality product stands out. We talked about the history of the distillery and future plans over several fantastic drinks. I'd definitely recommend this tour, and saving room in your luggage to take a few bottles home!

Tasty and informative gin tasting. Birgin was personable and knowledgeable. We learned a lot and had fun. Get the Coast Guard gin! Can’t wait til his whiskey is available!

This was the perfect activity for a solo traveler like myself. Anyone that is interested in distilling and/or gin would LOVE this experience. Fascinating overview of the process, then a tasting of the products. Delicious, and will be a must-do on my next trip.

The gin was great and the owner is incredibly kind and personable. We had an engaging conversation and learned about Icelandic gin, whiskey, brennivin, and the gin distillation process. We then got to sample three gins— my favorite was the coast guard gin. A must do experience in Reykjavík!

This was a lovely tour with Biggi the founder and one man gin making machine! It was a lovely intimate experience as it was just myself and my friend. The whole experience was interesting and informative but obviously the best part was the gin tasting! You definitely should give it a go, even if you’re not sold on gin as your tipple of choice! The gin made here was like no other gin I’ve had before - it was delicious, smooth and refreshing. We bought a bottle of the Navy gin each to take home because it was so good! Definitely would recommend!

I came into this not really knowing if I was even a gin person. I left a gin person. That's entirely down to Birgir. He has a natural gift for sharing his passion — walking you through what makes gin gin, how the process works, how small changes lead to very different results, and what separates a quality gin from the rest. It never felt like a lecture. It felt like sitting down with someone who genuinely loves what they do and is happy to bring you along. Between the amazing cocktails and Birgir making it all so interesting and approachable, leaving with a few bottles to enjoy at home felt like the only natural way to end it.

I came into this not really knowing if I was even a gin person. I left a gin person. That's entirely down to Birgir. He has a natural gift for sharing his passion — walking you through what makes gin gin, how the process works, how small changes lead to very different results, and what separates a quality gin from the rest. It never felt like a lecture. It felt like sitting down with someone who genuinely loves what they do and is happy to bring you along. Between the amazing cocktails and Birgir making it all so interesting and approachable, leaving with a few bottles to enjoy at home felt like the only natural way to end it.

Owner was one heck of a character. The tour was very intimate and warm. You'd imagine touring through a giant factory and glossing past every machinery, but that is not what happens. The factory is efficient, true to size, and takes about 2 minutes to tour. The machines are complex and intimating. This is in stark contrast to the owner, who is a graphic designer turned gin maker. He took 6 years and transformed a fairly small gin distillery into an operation coveted by some of the biggest names in Iceland. 100% recommend!

If gin is your thing then don’t miss this one. This was a great chance to chat with the distiller and under stand his perspectives and motivation. It was also a chance to see his new location in the harbor area of Reykjavik. The product is fantastic and I feel certain that their whiskey that will be on offer in the future will be a fine addition to the lineup. Very pleasant and knowledgeable, we quite enjoyed our visit. And left with a bottle of each of the Marberg gins, after enjoying two in cocktails and one neat.

Informative, personal tour in an intimate setting. Very educational about distilling process. Very humble about outstanding product. Highly recommend. Was not a gin person , but love it now. Don’t miss this when visiting Reykjavík.

Great time! Learned a lot about the distilling process and had the opportunity to try each product. It was just the two of us so we had a private tasting with the owner, who was very generous with the tastings. Ended up buying a bottle to bring back to the hotel because it was good, and to support the cause. Always fun visiting local distilleries when traveling.

Epic experience! The love of the craft and of the gin was obvious, and the knowledge was evident. I cannot recommend it enough!

This place is GREAT! I booked the tour ahead of time for a party of four (me, wife, son and daughter in-law). Best bang for tour buck! The tour was casual, yet very informative. The tour included 3 cocktails, using all 3 Marberg Gins, and the drinks were excellent! The 3 different Marberg guns are all great and the bartender making our drinks was a true artist. Note: the bartender also works at the Drykk bar in downtown Reykjavik and his cocktails were, hands down, the best we had in all of Reykjavik! We also enjoyed chatting with the owner of the distillery, very nice guy! Marberg is great gin! Looking forward to their future whiskey offers! All the best from Virginia & West Virginia!

Great little tour and tasting at a convenient location within walking distance of where we were staying in downtown Reykjavik. Had great conversations with our host, and had several fantastic drinks. When we bought some bottles to take back home to the states he even had some travel-safe air bags to put the bottles in. Can't wait to visit on a future trip to Iceland to see the new tasting room setup when it's done! Highly recommend to any Gin fans.

This was one of the best distillery tours we’ve done! The host was very knowledgeable and the gin was excellent. We were able to taste 5 products and he asked if we wanted to taste even more at the end. He was very kind and we laughed the entire tour. The location is a quick walk from downtown. Highly recommend!

The owner is so passionate and the way he talks about his products is amazing. Than the tasting of his creations; The Marberg Gin is by far the best Gin & Tonic we ever tasted. The pureness, so smooth. A must visit, especially when you wanna move up in your gin experience!

I had a fantastic time visiting this distillery! The owner was so welcoming and knowledgeable about spirits and Iceland in general. It’s always fun to learn from someone who truly enjoys their craft and he definitely does. Also the packaging and design work for the Marberg brand are some of the best that I’ve seen. I would definitely recommend visiting this spot if you’re interested in gin or the process in general- I was able to taste 3 different types and a brennevin. Bottles are also available for purchase so you can take a piece of Iceland home with you.

This was the best tour we have ever been on. (And we have been on many) The gin was top tier and getting to understand the process behind it with the Master maker was amazing. My husband doesn’t drink gin and this is the only gin he will drink. We will be getting this gin shipped state side as soon as we get home. This is a must do tour!

What an amazing way to end off our trip. It was great getting to know the owner and learning more about his journey and love for gin making. We really loved the Coast Gaurd (Navy proof) gin and the Negroni. Such great value for money. This is a must for anyone travelling to Iceland. Within walking distance of the city centre.

Great gin, great stories, overall very entertaining and enjoyable. We were lucky and got a private tour.

I came out of this visit as a gin fan (who knew?). Definitely place this on your “to visit” list. Small and cozy, the owner “Biggie” is extremely knowledgeable about his craft, and his gregarious personality pairs beautifully with the drinks and conversation about gin and various other topics. Ask him about his “sell out” label, write on the wall, and take his restaurant recommendations seriously.

“Biggie” was a great host and incredibly entertaining and knowledgeable about gin production. He told us about his start up story and how he’s achieved so much to get to where he is today. The gin is possibly some of the best I have ever had, and he is excellent in his presentation of drinks, humor and wit during the personalized tour. I hope that he gains more visitors so he can expand and capitalize on his gem of truly “one-of-a-kind” Icelandic gin

This was one of the best experiences we had in Iceland. We had tried the Coast Guard Gin at our hotel and loved it so much we went out of our way to try and buy some at the distillery. Birgir was so kind and hospitable and we truly enjoyed getting to know him and learning about the gin process, and having a few drinks with the distiller himself! We also had the opportunity to buy some of the gin as originally planned!

This was a highlight of the trip. The gin was amazing and learning how the distillery came to be was so interesting. We left with a bottle of each.

Our tour at Thoran was one of the highlights of our trip. My partner is more of a gin person than I am (or so I thought). I was happy to see the distillery and try a couple of sips. We ended up being the only ones there, and were able to talk at length with the owner, Birgir, for ~2 hours, as he explained his production, his product design, and ultimately made us several EXCELLENT cocktails from the gins and other couple of spirits he makes. Again, I have not historically enjoyed gin, but he mixed such good drinks that I had to cut myself off so I could drive home! Undoubtedly, the most valuable part of the experience was just getting to sit and talk with Birgir about anything and everything. We loved the opportunity to compare notes on life in Iceland vs the States, the weather, our families, and whatever other topics we could think of. We took home 2 bottles of gin. If you have any interest in gin or spirit-making in general, and want to enjoy some great drinks, we cannot recommend Thoran enough. Would gladly return in the future.

We spent four days and four nights in Iceland. A quick search erroneously showed only one distillery in Iceland, making vodka and Brennivin (akvavit) for around $40 per head. A bit of research found this gin distillery about 3 miles further from downtown. Birger, the owner and tour guide, is a really smart guy who loves and knows Iceland, and decided to become a top-notch distiller. He answered all our questions, showed us everything, and gave us a tasting. The gin is superb, now among our favorites. The above said, what really makes this tour special is Birger and his knowledge of Iceland. One learns a lot as he goes over the name, label design, choice of botanicals including Icelandic seaweed, colors on the label, etc. And even the name of the distillery, Thoran, with the Icelandic letter Thorn (looks much like a P).

I've always been a fan of gin, but it definitely appears to be having a "moment". I was thrilled to learn about Marberg, a recent entrant into the Icelandic gin market (and, fun fact, available at the Duty Free at the airport as you fly out). The Distillery Tour does not disappoint for those of us interested in seeing under the hood. Even if you're not terribly interested in the mechanics, the gin is *so good* that it's worth the tour for the tasting alone. I snagged a couple of bottles to take back to the States with me, and now a common refrain when friends visit is "do you have any more of that really good gin?" The ansewr is "it is almost finished", so clearly another trip needs to be made.

Got a chance to see this excellent distillery in the outskirts of Hafnarfjörður. I was lucky enough to get the owner himself as a host. He was charming, friendly and very learned about his craft. AND we got to taste the gin thah he's currently producing. Really recommend if you like gin and whiskey, want to learn more about the process of making them and tasting as well!

The master distiller knows his stuff and the gin is delicious. A fantastic opportunity to learn about the process, the tour only takes about 45 minutes and the distillery is located halfway between Reykjavik and Keflavik airport. So if you’re taking a late flight from Iceland and have a few moments to kill, be sure to visit Thoran Distillery before you leave.

Was in for a pleasant surprise when we booked this distillery tour. It doesn't look like much on the outside but inside there is a well established professional looking distillery with a warm atmosphere. The tour was fun and our guide (and the owner) very charming and knowledgable. At the end of the tour we of course got to taste the product, Marberg, which is honestly one of the better gins I have tasted. Highly recommended for gin enthusiasts and any appreciatiors of spirits and spiritmaking.

Visiting the Thoran distillery was one of the high points of my resent trip to Iceland. The owner was very knowledgeable, funny and made the tour very interesting. The sprirts tasted great, and the future looks exciting. I definitly recommend a visit to the distillery, and offcourse buying a bottle of gin 👍

The tour of the distillery was great, the host was funny and nice to be around. The best part was the tasting of the Marberg gin, wich is in my opinion very very tasty!