Helsinki Distilling distills whiskey and gin

Now, however, we are not talking about cooking pontica.

Nowadays, Finnish spirits are sold to the world and they win international awards.

Even though in this whiskey story, Helsinki Distilling’s master distiller and CEO are involved Mikko Mykkänen, we must first talk about Kyrö Distillery from Ostrobothnia. And the topic isn’t even whiskey.

In 2015, Kyrön Napue was chosen as the world’s best gin & tonic gin in a competition held in England.

After that, the Finns went wild with rosemary and cranberry-decorated gt. The button was sold out in two days. Suddenly everyone wanted to drink gin.

– Kyrö’s win was a big deal and luck for all of us. There was nothing before that, Mykkänen thanks.

At the same time as Kyrö in 2013, Mykkänen and Kai Kilpinen. They also distilled gin.

More recently, Helsinki Distilling’s gins and whiskeys have won.

Mykkänen and Kilpinen already had whiskey in their dreams in 2013, but the fact is that it takes 15 years to make a 10-year-old whiskey.

The bills should be paid before that.

All distilleries make some other alcoholic product before the whiskey can be bottled. The distillery’s investments are big.

A large copper boiler costs as much as an Italian sports car, a smaller one as much as a German sports car. And that was just the boilers.

– Fortunately, we happened upon the gin boom. Gin was bought as much as it could be made. My greatest love is whisky, but gin comes right after that, says Mykkänen, who also belongs to the British Gin Guild and is a judge in international gin competitions.

Helsinki Distilling produces 150–200 thousand liters of gin per year. Gin is still the number one product, but a tentacle has joined the clear ones.

– As much gin has been made as needed and whiskey as much as possible, Mykkänen carves.

At the beginning of the 21st century, there were only two larger distilleries in Finland, Teerenpeli and Altia. According to Mykkänen, a new industry was born in Finland in five years.

Nowadays, there are already several distilleries that can be taken seriously, such as Tornio, Ägräs and Valamo. And new ones are being established.

– Finnish spirits have appeared on the world map.

The purity of Finnish nature is highly valued. In Finland, distilleries get the water they need almost directly, after a little treatment, from the tap.

A good example is Mykkänen’s Australian distiller friend, whose most expensive raw material is water brought in a truck container.

– Finland is of interest to the world, we have pure nature and raw materials, exoticism. When I go to Japan to sell our products and tell them that I am from Finland, they already think that there is something really good now.

Mykkänen states that distilleries in Finland do not have “dollar pictures in their eyes” operations. Even though it’s about business and the purpose is to make a profit, distilleries also have a pioneering spirit. The pioneers of the 2010s have a lot to do with each other.

– We talk to each other all the time and we have annual meetings. We have joint broths brewing and on recreation days we visit each other’s distilleries.

When Mykkänen and Kilpinen founded their distillery in the Teurastamo area in Helsinki, the intention was to fit all operations under one roof. That plan has been abandoned a long time ago.

The distillery and the restaurant are in the same building, but the bottling and bottle storage are separate, in addition the whiskey barrels and the visitor center that opens during the summer are on the other side of Teurastamo in the ice storage of the Sörnäinen brewery built in the early 19th century.

In 2017, Helsinki Distilling’s first whiskey was tasted. Since then, more options have been added to the whiskey selection – larger and smaller batches.

Every weekday morning around seven, sacks of malt worth one thousand kilos are poured into the masher with water and the wort is started.

– We make full malt whiskeys from the long stuff, so to speak, even though it is more expensive than blends made from grains. Everything is 100 percent malt, because it makes a better whiskey than grain.

After a couple of hours, the wort is transferred through pipes to an adjacent fermentation vessel, where yeast is added to it. The three-day fermentation begins.

Next, about 10 percent of the wort is transferred to a copper pot and the distillation begins.

– Distillation is based on the fact that alcohol boils at 78 degrees, when the alcohol starts to boil and the vapors rise up. Water boiling at 100 degrees stays down in the tank.

The steam goes through the pipes to the cooler, where it condenses into a liquid as it cools. Distilling the whole pot takes about 6-7 hours.

At this stage, the distillate is still clear and the alcohol percentage is high. When put in a barrel, water is mixed with the distillate, which reduces the alcohol percentage to 65. A few percent of the alcohol evaporates in the barrel.

– Typically, the whiskey is further diluted to the standardized “sweet spot”. In most of our whiskies, it is 47.5 percent. Some of the whiskey is sold as cask strength and these are typically between 53-65 percent depending on evaporation, i.e. “angels share”.

In a barrel, whiskey gets its dark color and flavor depending on the type of barrel it is matured in.

Helsinki Distilling also has many kinds of barrels in use. French oak, Spanish sherry casks, old bourbon casks from America (such as Jack Daniels, Jim Beam), Madeira casks, rum casks.

– A barrel can cost a couple of tons per piece, but normally the price is around a couple of hundred euros.

Even a dumb person has to go barrel shopping at a fairly tight pace. Then we are talking about a bill of tens of thousands, because a bigger batch is bought at once.

– We are a young distillery and have tried many kinds of barrels. In a year or two, you can already see where good whiskey comes from.

The barrel is really important to the taste of the whiskey. But Mykkänen reminds us that bad distillate doesn’t turn into gold in a barrel.

Currently, it is fashionable to keep whiskey in a barrel for at least three years, and to finish it during the last year in a different barrel than where it has been matured for the most part.

Consumers want special taste experiences.

In addition to the basic line, Helsinki Distilling has a rum barrel and a smoked whiskey barrel for finishing.

In the past, whiskeys were talked about according to their age as 8, 10 and 12. Now the age marking has been omitted from many younger bottles. It is still found in older whiskeys such as 15 and 20 year old whiskies.

– Ten years is already the norm. Not with us, though, since we’re only a 9-year-old distillery, Mykkänen laughs.

Whiskey information:

Scottish blended whiskeys ovat the most common type of whiskey. They are made by mixing several different whiskeys together. On the palate, they are light, fruity and sometimes oaky.

Scottish malt whiskies is made from malted barley. Single malt whiskeys are whiskeys blended from batches of whiskey made by one distillery. Malt whiskeys are strong and sometimes smoky in taste.

Irish whiskeys ranging from sweet and nuanced to softly honeyed and very rich.

American whiskeys are often made from corn, and are then called bourbon. Corn softens the taste of whiskeys, and maturation in new oak barrels also gives vanilla flavors.

Canadian whiskeys is often made from corn, but rye and other grains are also used. The whiskeys are mild and soft in taste.

Source: Alko.fi

The story was originally published on June 23, 2021.