Denmark | Whisky Lady

Ahhhh the Nordics! Whisky-wise, it has become a prolific part of the whisky world. Originating from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland, the category is defined by extreme climate-driven maturation and experimental production techniques, such as using local rye, floor-malted barley, and local smoking materials like juniper, birch and even nettles. At the 2025 Whisky Show in London, there was a special featured section devoted to Nordic whiskies.

Denmark’s whisky production has significantly expanded in the last two decades – so much so that there is now a Danish Whisky Manifesto, with regulatory benchmarks to identify as “Authentic Danish Whisky” with 100% mashing, fermenting, distillation, and aging within Denmark.

At London’s 2025 Whisky Show, I had an opportunity to join a special Nordic session with Jakob Stjernholm, founder and co-owner of Thy. He shared insights into their use of Beechwood smoke to dry their grains.

Thy 5 year (2025) PX Oloroso 51.5%

Nose – Plum, pineapple, musk melon, cantaloupe, grapes, a curl of smoke, sweet, some nougat, burnt thyme, peppermint clove toothpaste, a touch medicinal, sweet wood, chocolate covered rum raisins, fresh
Palate – Yum! A dessert of Christmas cake – lots of rum-soaked raisins, plums, quite buttery, then a whoosh of pepper and smoke
Finish – Dry, with an almost numbing quality, relatively short
Water – We thought perhaps it would open up with water – it enhanced the cinnamon; however, it also made it curiously more acidic. Most of us found we preferred it at cask strength

What a mix of elements! It was both powerful and nuanced. Warm, with that curiously numbing quality. Unique and well worth exploring.

What more do we know? Here’s what the folks at Thy have to say:

A sweet and smooth single malt matured in PX and oloroso sherry casks for 4-5 years. It has an oily mouthfeel, rich dried fruits, sweetness and earthiness from old Pedro Ximenez casks, a hint of herbs and warming beechwood smoke on the palate.

It was a wonderful close to our Whisky Ladies World Tour.

Curious about more whiskies from Denmark?

Stauning – the pioneer and Denmark’s oldest operating distillery, starting in 2005. They combine modern engineering with traditional approaches like in-house floor malting and custom-made small copper pot stills to produce heavy, oily, spice-forward primarily Rye whiskies. I’ve had the pleasure of trying:

Next was Bryggeriet Braunstein, which was founded in 2007 and considered a maritime innovator. They build on their micro-brewing to expand into single malt distilling, often aging their spirits in unique locations, such as castles and coastal warehouses across Denmark. So far I’ve tried only one expression: Danica NAS 42% (unpeated) .

My favourite from Denmark is Fary Lochan – a bit of a botanical maverick! Their USP is how they smoke malted barley with stinging nettles – producing a herbaceous smoke profile that is truly unique. I’ve been very fortunate to experience a few expressions:

Last but not least, founded in 2010 is Thy, founded in an organic family farm in Northwest Jutland. They focus on grain-to-glass farming with heritage grains. Another distinguishing feature is the use of beechwood to smoke their grains. Before this evening, I only sampled their Thy Bøg 50%.

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Our next stop in the 2025 Whisky Show‘s Nordics zone was a distillery from Denmark. The Whisky Show had this to say about THY – DENMARK

One of the few genuinely single-estate whisky distilleries, Thy was established on the Gyrup estate on Denmark’s west coast, and born from a desire to take the family’s barley, spelt and rye, and bring it to life in vibrant, grain forward whiskies. Every step of production is managed on the family estate in a true field-to-bottle business.

We gave our Thy whisky stand guide an impossible task. Choose one whisky – and only one – to provide us with a feel for the distillery character.

He immediately pulled out Bøg, part of their core expressions.

Thy Bøg 50%

Nose – Straight, clean – think cedar, bay leaves,
Palate – It was peatier than anticipated from the nose, some grilled pineapple, warm and tasty
Finish – Very unique with menthol, sage, and quite herbal

This expression is crafted from Odyssey barley with smoked Beechwood malt, matured in Oloroso and PX casks.

What more do they have to say about their Thy Bøg expression?

Bøg takes its name and flavor from our distinctly Danish beechwood smoke. Inspired by the familiar smell of camp-fires and raditional smokehouses along Thy’s beautiful and windswept coastline.

Bøg is made from organic spring barley grown on the fields surrounding us, carefully malted and smoked in our malting drums with the smoke from beech wood embers. Carefully single distilled to preserve the malty and meaty smoky flavors from the malt and matured in old sherry casks.

This whisky is warm and smoky, with a soft sweetness of baked fruits, malt character and a dried fruit richness from its maturation on oloroso and PX sherry casks.