Whisky voices: Jakob Stjernholm

This interview is part of my ongoing Whisky Voices Series, where I sit down with leading voices in the whisky world, from distillers and writers to ambassadors and innovators, to capture their unfiltered thoughts on heroes, villains, surprises, trends, and wishes.

For this edition, I spoke with Jakob Stjernholm, co-owner, Master Distiller and Managing Director at Thy Whisky in Denmark. Located on the family farm, Thy has been one of the great success stories of terroir-driven Nordic whisky. Jakob’s answers reflect a deep respect for agriculture, flavour, and the future of Nordic whisky.

Whisky Hero

Jakob’s hero wasn’t a distiller, blender, or writer, but the people who ultimately give whisky its meaning.

“The ordinary consumer, tirelessly looking for the next great dram.”

Whisky Villain

Jakob’s villain was big corporations and the industrialisation of whisky production, explaining:

“Whisky at its core is a refined agricultural product. It is grains distilled. Imagine if all red wines in the world were made from one single grape, say Cabernet Sauvignon. They wouldn’t be bad wines, but it would erase the flavour differences, terroir and stories that make wine exciting. That is where we are with 99 percent of whisky right now.”

For Jakob, the century-long focus on yield and efficiency has stripped grain varieties of their diversity and flavour potential.

“So much flavour comes from the selection of grains, from malting, and from preserving those flavours through distillation. Whisky has the potential to be single estate, single farm, local, with a true sense of place and living craft. I would love to see more distilleries run their own malthouse. I'd love to see more selection og barley varieties for flavour. I'd love to see more rye, wheat, oats and corn being used for European whisky.

Happily, we’re doing quite well in these terms in Denmark and the Nordics.”

Whisky Surprise

“Did you know that 9 out of 12 Danish whisky distilleries, all signatories of the Danish Whisky Manifesto, are certified organic? And most work with local farmers for their grains. That’s impressive. We even managed to agree in the manifesto that Danish whisky must be made entirely from Danish grains.”

Whisky Trend

“I love seeing independent bottlers include more and more world whiskies in blends and single cask bottlings. Curating something new and exciting, and of great quality, is something indie bottlers are uniquely positioned to do.”

Whisky Wish

“I wish for Nordic whisky and Danish whisky to evolve into the great whisky region it has the potential to become. So many inspiring people have poured their passion into distilling, and so much great whisky is being made right now. We’re still only in our ‘early teens’ as a whisky region.

We need more market, more followers, more ambassadors, more investments, and more collaboration in the coming years to make it happen.”

A visionary outlook from one of the leading voices shaping the identity of new Nordic whisky.

Sláinte!
- Thomas