“It’s about being farmers. Being mindful of this farm, this place. Thinking about legacy and the history of organic farming and the grains you grow. Wondering whether if you try to do it just a little bit better — growing the grains the right way, harvesting them right, or using the right variety — can that help create quality in the end?”
That, in a nutshell, is Thy’s philosophy, as seen through the eyes of Jakob Stjernholm, one of the distillery’s founders and co-owners. He speaks passionately about Thy among the shoulder-high rye stalks in fields that surround the distillery, which is located on the edge of Thy National Park in the northwest of Denmark. It is a friendly, inviting part of the country that’s popular with tourists but is not flooded by them. Many of the rolling hills are covered in barley, rye, or wheat. The highest point in the National Park is Isbjerg, which literally translates to ‘iceberg’, even though there is no ice for many miles. It is not that high either, only 56 metres above sea level. The people that live here seem in touch with their surroundings, whether they are farmers taking care of their crops, or surfers enjoying the waves in Cold Hawaii — a nickname of the small surfing town of Klitmøller.
As soon as I arrive at Thy Whisky Distillery, Stjernholm suggests we go for a walk, which is how we ended up in the middle of the fields on his family’s farm. Having previously visited the distillery, on-site drum maltings, and warehouse, he figures the time had come to show me the true beating heart of Thy. “This is rye,” Stjernholm explains. “It’s the third crop in the field, because it’s a hardy crop that can deal with lower nutrition in the soil. We start with clover grass in the fields for two years. Then the first crop would always be some kind of wheat or oats. They do well with that highly accessible nutrition created by the grass. The second crop is generally barley. Then the third year the nitrogen deposits are more depleted, but, thankfully, rye is good with that.”
The fields of Gyrup, a 500-hectare estate that has been in the family for eight generations, are the lifeblood of Thy Whisky. Rye, barley, spelt, oats, and wheat. Almost any grain imaginable is grown on this farm-turned-single-estate distillery. (There are cows, too.) These grains fuel the devotion of Stjernholm, and his wife, Marie, who run the farm distillery with Marie’s sister, Ellen, and her husband, Andreas Poulsen. A formidable foursome, they stand on the shoulders of Nicolaj, Marie and Ellen’s father, who died a few years ago. Nicolaj was a farmer all his life, and had been practising organic farming methods since the mid-1990s. According to Stjernholm, at some point Nicolaj determined it would be “fun to try out making whisky off the grains from our farm”. That was almost 15 years ago.
The transformation from organic farm to full-fledged farm distillery was gradual. Thy Whisky Distillery initially did not have its own pot still, let alone its own maltings. Instead, it collaborated with a local brewery. Only 16 experimental casks were produced in the distillery’s first five years. It was a time of exploring new frontiers and learning. Everything was part of a journey that saw Thy move away from industry standards and forge its own path. As Stjernholm explains, farmers producing malting barley need to meet certain specifications. If they cannot deliver the quality a brewer, maltster, or distiller is looking for, they will be paid much less and, in the worst-case scenario, their carefully cultivated grain might end up as cattle feed. But barley that is not the right quality for some can be gold for others. “You can absolutely make whisky from barley that doesn’t meet industry specifications,” Stjernholm says. “Maybe efficiency would be down to 90 per cent. That’s problematic if you run an industrial operation and need to keep costs low. If you’re in it for flavour and experience, trying to create something unique, it wouldn’t necessarily be a problem. It could be something great.”
The decision to go all-in on organic single-estate whisky was not made until Christmas 2015, when the family gathered in Gyrup to discuss the future of the estate. Not long after, Ellen and Andreas, and Marie and Jakob left Copenhagen and moved back to Thy. Production was ramped up right away in partnership with Nordisk Brænderi, but plans were also drawn up to build a dedicated distillery and malthouse for Thy Whisky. A new warehouse with a perforated façade was erected as well, allowing the salty sea breeze to flow unhindered. The distillery was finally completed when a new Müller Aromat pot still arrived in the spring of 2019. Thy’s capacity is now 50,000 litres of organic new make, all made from its own-grown (and malted) grains, some of which are heritage varieties.
At Gyrup Estate and for Thy Whisky, farming has long ceased to be about efficiency. Crop rotation and soil health are emphasised. The organic approach means artificial fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides, and chemicals are out of the question. Nurturing older grain varieties was already part of the farm’s DNA and has now seeped into the distillery’s as well. One of them is Imperial, a variety from the 1800s that was replaced in the early 20th century by higher-yielding varieties. Nicolaj helped revive Imperial in his fields, after plant breeders had initially rebred them on a much smaller scale. Langeland is another older variety regularly grown on Gyrup Estate. It was brought back to life after more than 100 years in hibernation. During our walk through the fields, Stjernholm points out the distinct differences with modern varieties.
“If you’re a conventional farmer you’ve never seen a barley field like this,” he says. He explains how the straw and leaves of Langeland are much more voluminous than those of Laureate, for example. Indeed, it is a very bushy field. At this stage of the growing season it more resembles an overgrown lawn than the windswept barley we know from slick marketing videos. Sparingly dotted amid the barley is agersennep, small yellow flowers known as field mustard in English. They are considered a weed. A conventional farmer might see them and think, “I must run my herbicide tomorrow”. Being an organic farmer, Stjernholm is “super happy” with the look of his field. “What I see is that the natural genetics of this barley are competing with the weed, because there barely are any yellow flowers. Modern barley varieties are much more open and shorter. The agersennep would be getting a lot of light. This field could be yellow entirely.”
That does not mean there’s no place for modern barley varieties on Gyrup --— most of the barley grown there is such. That bring us to another important differentiator of Thy Whisky. Instead of using peat, some batches of barley are smoked with beechwood, or bøg. According to Jakob, the smell of beechwood is everywhere in Denmark. It is a big part of Danish (culinary) culture but was not yet part of whisky until Thy started using it. “Beechwood in whisky isn’t like this statement of smoke. It is very integrated with the flavours from the cask.” Because Thy’s Bøg whisky is about showcasing beechwood smoke, Stjernholm does not feel the need to mix its distinct flavour profile with that of older barley varieties. He adds, “Also, when we do dark roasted malts, I don’t want to use old grains either, because the roasting process will change the flavour of the grain entirely. There’s no need to grow those old grains with low yields to make a dark roasted caramel malt. It would be a waste, almost.”
Our exploration of Thy Whisky ends in the visitor centre, which is in one of the wings of the old estate buildings. This year a photo of this visitor centre was shared on Thy’s social media accounts. In it, Stjernholm was surrounded by dozens of warehouse samples, working on what he dubbed “a new beginning”. Until recently, Thy Whisky exclusively released small-batch or single-cask releases; 24 in total. Each was almost like an experiment. It reflected Thy’s humble beginnings, when production was only a few casks each year. With the current distillery operational since 2019, stock had grown sufficiently to support a dedicated core range. Stjernholm says, “We won’t stop experimenting, but we have some fundamental ideas about what fits our Danish traditions and our farm. That became our core range.”
The new range consists of three releases. The first is simply called Thy, a single malt made from organic pale malt and a small quantity of beechwood smoked malt. It embodies the essence of the distillery. The second, Bøg, is also a single malt, but fully embraces the distinct Danish beechwood smoke. It is a pleasantly warming, comforting reimagining of what smoky whisky can be. Finally, Spelt-Rye is made with organic spelt, rye, and barley, and is matured in new American oak. It further showcases the versatility of Thy Whisky Distillery, which has grown into a serious force in the European whisky scene. Stjernholm says, “It’s all about our process, our grains. I wanted these whiskies to reflect us, and they really describe a lot of what we’re doing.”
