INTERVIEWS

WHISKY PRODUCTION

Given that whisky production is not an easy task, let alone profitable for the next few years, how did you decide to do this?

Brigljević: In Croatia, we have no tradition in the production of aged spirits. Our schnapps is mostly consumed in that rudimentary form (transparent and without ageing). Consequently, we have little practical knowledge, applicable to the production of this type of alcoholic beverages. For the last ten years or so, our distillery has been working on the idea of ​​turning home-made distillates into “fine spirits”. I experimented with several types of distillates, with ageing in different barrels in different positions (variables in moisture, temperature intervals throughout the year, etc.) Some things worked, some are exceptional, and some are not. Along the way, the first Croatian craft gin was created, and later an old tom version of an aged gin in a barrique barrel. Logically whisky was our next step.

Varionica: It was a challenge for us. We’ve been in the whisky club since 2016. and have been drinking even longer. We work well in these collaborations. We love working with other people in their industry who also know their job. Why not have your whisky when we have already had the opportunity to make it ourselves. Somehow we saw through the whisky club that it was partly similar to brewing and so we started to study it more and more and in the end, we met the team from the Brigljević distillery. We had the technology to make beer, or the raw material to make whisky, and they had the technology to distil whisky. We decided to experiment together and I can say that it was a challenge for all of us, but we are pleased with the results.

Looking at the current state of the market, do you have a particular audience for your product, i.e. do you want to tailor towards cocktails or would you rather have the audience consume it in some other form?

Brigljević: Considering that we are a micro-distillery, it does not occur to us to produce in quantities for cocktails. In the years ahead, we will be experimenting a lot with yeast, malt, fermentation and distillation, as well as ageing in various casks, so we expect a lot of smaller releases for whisky enthusiasts and connoisseurs alike.

Varionica: A lot depends on the distillate itself that we will eventually get. We are currently thinking in all directions, but the way the distillate will age in the wood and what will happen to everything will ultimately affect the very direction of both marketing and PR. It’s hard at first to have a concrete path for the first whisky and what exactly you want from it because the world of whisky is so wide, and we’re just at the beginning and I doubt we can know exactly what we’re going to get and in which direction it’s going.

Tell me more about the production, of course as much as you can say in public; What yeasts do you use, how long does fermentation last, what about distillation, what kind of stills do you use, is it allowed to know the size of the barrels and how much distillation do you plan to do per year?

Brigljević: Malt preparation is done in the Varionica plant in Pisarovina, and fermentation in the distillery in Velika Gorica. We use a classic copper pot still and we distil it two and a half times, instead of regular two times. We plan to age it in 225L barrels, but also smaller volumes depending on the availability of barrels. Since malt can be distilled all year round (there is no seasonality as with fruit distillates), we plan to make whisky as much as we can.

Varionica: We used 100% malted barley for production. The first batch was a little over 2000 litres. We used the English yeast strain because of the rich ester profile it produces. The fermentation was done at 96h and we got a wash of 8.5% alcohol. The number of distillations is not predetermined, we will see how things develop and which barrels we will be able to procure. So far we have different barrels, different sizes and the plan is to fill everything from 40 litres to 225 litres.

Given your new make products, I guess 2023 – 2025 can we expect your product or?

Brigljević: In our climate, the maturation of new make in oak barrels is much faster than in Scotland. We have a much larger annual temperature range and more pronounced differences between dry and wet periods, so I expect good whiskey in the first editions of 2024-2025.

Varionica: It is very difficult for us to say that at this moment. We hope that it will be in that period. It all depends on the interaction between new make and casks, as more batches come into play we will know more about the maturation of whisky and what to expect.