When fermentation is completed and the mash has reached an alcohol content of about 9 %, the time has come to distill.

The distillation is done in big copper stills where the mash is boiled and the resulting vapours carrying alcohol and flavours are collected. These vapours are cooled, and out of the stills comes a distillate, which is crystal clear and has an alcohol strength of about 30 %. This distillate is called 'low wine' and is distilled a second time to increase strength and concentrate flavours.

During the second distillation, not all the spirits are kept. The first drops leaving the still are impure, as is the last. It is only the middle part that is fit for drinking. This is the part we collect in a separate tank, to be matured into whisky. The first and the last parts are set aside and later distilled again, together with the next batch of low wine. 

The mash from a mash tun (5400 litres) is divided between our two washbacks, each having a volume of 2700 litres. Once the stills are full, they are put under vacuum and the boiling begins. The pressure is lowered, and with it, the boiling point. At a mere 63°C the content of the stills begins to boil. The vapours leaving the mash have a higher alcohol content and when they are cooled, the result is a distillate with a final alcohol content of 30 %. 

The low wine from the washbacks are then pumped to one of our spirit stills. These stills have a capacity of 2000 litres. Once the stills are full, they are put under a lighter vacuum and the boiling point is lowered to 78°C. During the distillation process, the distillate is divided into three parts: Head, heart and tail. The head and the tail contains impurities and are set aside. Only the heart is collected to become whisky. The head and the tail are kept and distilled again, together with low wine from the next batch. After completed distillation the spirit has an alcohol content of between 65 and 75 %, depending on the product produced.

When it came to selecting the manufacturer of our stills, we visited a number of copper smiths in different parts of Europe. Eventually, we decided on Frilli, in the Italian region of Tuscany. They have produced distillation equipment for more than one hundred years and supplied both whisky distilleries and grappa producers with stills. They are also very competent within the field of automation. This enabled us to build a distillery, which, for its size, is perhaps the most modern in the world.