Germany does make whisky. It’s a young industry, having only taken off in the last three decades, but German distillers now produce single malts, blends, and bourbon-style whiskies much as Ireland, Scotland, and the United States do. So, to answer the question “Do Germans Make Whisky?”: yes, they do, and they’re not at all bad at it.
Continue reading to discover more about German whisky, its famous distilleries, and the brands worth trying.
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Do Germans Make Whisky?
Many people wonder whether Germans make whisky. Germany has a long history of brewing and distilling, even if it hasn’t always been linked to this particular spirit. Since whisky starts life as a kind of beer, turning it into a national pursuit was a logical step for a country with such a huge brewing tradition.
For generations, thousands of family-run micro-distilleries across Germany made fruit spirits and Korn. Whisky first got noticed there after World War II, thanks to the American presence in the territory. Many years have passed since, and German whiskies have only grown more popular.
The number of distilleries in Germany keeps growing. More and more spirit producers, including fruit-spirit distillers, jumped on the whisky bandwagon from the mid-1990s onward. Germany now counts over 150 distilleries producing whisky.
The History of Whisky in Germany
Robert Fleischmann established Germany’s first single malt distillery, Blaue Maus, in 1983.
Whisky’s popularity among German drinkers has grown sharply over the last five years, and many distilleries have started producing it alongside their traditional fruit-spirit lines.
Get to know more about the History of German Whisky!
German law allows farms in the south of the country to produce up to 300 litres of alcohol a year, mostly from fruits such as apples and pears. Many of those farms have since expanded into whisky, often using the same equipment they already had for making schnapps.
In the north, Korn is traditionally distilled from grain, and a number of producers now barrel it and market it as whisky instead.
What Different Types of Whisky Do the Germans Make?
Once you’ve answered “Do Germans Make Whisky?”, the next question is what kind of whisky they actually make. Although whisky-making is still relatively new to Germany, that hasn’t stopped distillers there from trying their hand at a range of styles. Local distilleries have turned out single malts and blended whisky alike.
Whether this spirit deserves its own name simply for being made in Germany is debatable. Scotland, Japan, and Canada produce whisky; Ireland and the USA produce whiskey (Bourbon aside, of course). The cereal-based spirit made in Germany can reasonably be called either.
German Single Malt Whisky
Malt whisky from a single distillery is known as Single Malt Whisky. The term is most associated with single malt Scotch, though it applies just as well to whisky made elsewhere, including Germany.
The batch process is the same for every single malt. Distilleries offer a range of single malts, including single-barrel releases — the result of one batch aged for three or more years in a single oak barrel.
These single-barrel versions let drinkers compare how different kinds of storage shape the same whisky. The more common approach is to marry several batches, blended or vatted at bottling time, to keep the flavour profile consistent from one run to the next.
Blended German Whisky?
Blended whisky combines several whiskies with neutral grain spirits, colourings, and flavourings — typically one or more higher-quality straight or single malt whiskeys mixed with cheaper spirits and other additions.
This usually produces a lower-cost result, though “luxury” blends exist too.
In Germany, as in most whisky-producing countries, blended whisky makes up a large share of what’s on the market.
Popular German Distilleries
As a whisky-producing country, Germany has quite a few distilleries worth highlighting. Having answered “Do Germans Make Whisky?”, here are some of the main names behind that answer.
Rothaus from the Black Forest
The mash for this whisky is brewed at Baden’s Rothaus State Brewery in the Schwarzwald, deep in the Black Forest. The brewery was founded in 1791 on the grounds of a Benedictine monastery; the mash is then taken to Karlsruhe and distilled at the Kammer distillery.
Expressions from this distillery include the Black Forest Single Malt Whisky, the Black Forest 10 Years, the Black Forest Pinot Noir Cask Finish (2020), and the Black Forest Peaty Cask Finish (2014), among others.
Kirsch GmbH.
This distillery was founded in 1909 as the state’s test distillery, with high-quality cherry schnapps as its original purpose. The whisky is distilled twice and aged mainly in bourbon barrels.
Check out more German Whisky Distilleries, in this article: https://www.whiskyflavour.com/blog/top-12-german-whiskey-distilleries
Höhler
The Höhler Distillery started out as a producer of fruit brandies in 1895. Holger Höhler, a fourth-generation family member, now runs it. He began making small quantities of whisky in 2001, from a mash of maize, wheat, and rye.
These whiskies mature for three years and sell out quickly whenever they’re released, across single malt, rye, and bourbon styles. They’re spelled “Whesskey” — a pun on “whisky” and Hesse, the state where the distillery is based.
Blaue Maus
Robert Fleischmann founded the distillery in 1980 to make brandy on the site of his family’s grocery and tobacco business.
Three years later he made his first attempt at whisky, a pure single malt. After several tries at mastering the craft, he sold his first whisky in 1996; his son Thomas and wife Petra took over the business four years after that. The distillery now offers five distinct whisky brands.
Blackwood
Since the 1980s, the Blackwood distillery Seeger in Calw-Holzbronn has made wheat-based whisky, built around a 12-year-old filler. Across a wide area of southern Germany, the whisky and fruit brands the distillery started with are well known.
Do German Make Whisky? Yes, and Here’s Some of the Best German Drams
Stork Club Straight Rye Whiskey
At 55% alcohol, Stork Club Straight Rye Whiskey is a German rye made from rye grown in Brandenburg, just south of Berlin. It’s aged in ex-bourbon and ex-white wine barrels, distilled from a mix of unmalted and malted rye at the brand’s Spreewald distillery.
Expect notes of brown bread with Nutella, sharp black pepper, red apples, and blackberries.
Bottles of Stork Club Straight Rye Whiskey start at $60.
3-Year-Old Slyrs
Slyrs in Schliersee supplied the Boutique-y Whiskey Company with its first-ever bottling of Bavarian single malt whiskey, aged three years before bottling. Only 691 bottles were made, making this release extremely rare.
That Boutique-y Whisky Company produces award-winning blended malts and bottles single malts, single grains, and bourbons sourced from several well-known distilleries, with labels inspired by cult graphic novels. This one brings vanilla custard, Mr. Kipling’s Bramley Apple Pies, stewed plums, and dried hay. Bottles start at $90.
Beverbach Single Malt German Whiskey
Beverbach is a single malt whiskey made at the Hardenberg Distillery in Lower Saxony, northwest Germany, from malted wheat and barley, matured in first-fill bourbon barrels. It then spends time in barrels that previously held brandy, which adds a fruity note to the flavour.
Bottled at 43% ABV, it offers intense malt aromas alongside smoke, mild vanilla, dried fruit, and honey on the palate. Bottles start at $72.
Beverbach Sherry Cask Finish
This version of Beverbach German single malt from the Hardenberg Distillery spends its final years of ageing in sherry barrels, on top of earlier time in brandy and bourbon casks — a combination that yields a mellow, well-rounded blend of fruit and oak. Expect candied fruits, cakey spice, and rich, roasted malt. Bottles start at $93.
Hardenberg Club Straight Wheat
The Hardenberg Distillery in northwest Germany produces a notable pure wheat whiskey, combining equal parts malted and unmalted wheat as a nod to the distillery’s forefathers, who got the operation running back in 1700.
Ageing in a mix of Napoleon oak and Port barrels adds a pleasing depth of sweet fruit and rich cask character, with notes of sweet soaked raisins, sweet caramel, and a hint of vinous wood. Bottles start at $61 each.