A new canon – the scientific artistry of Copenhagen Distillery
By Signe Hansen
Having just claimed a major international whisky award, Copenhagen Distillery has solidified its position as not merely a disruptor, but as a visionary atelier. Scan Magazine talks to two of the minds behind a brand that is curating a new chapter in whisky, distilling the very essence of its Nordic origin into a glass: minimalistic, innovative, and sustainably profound.
When speaking to master distiller Lasse Öznek, you encounter a man of intense focus – a scholar of chemistry whose passion is matched by his precision. “We possess a deep reverence for whisky’s history,” he begins, “but our canvas is a Danish one – our approach is to build upon the foundation of science, not solely on inherited convention.”
Copenhagen Distillery employs a single, exacting distillation on a contemporary Müller hybrid.
Talking to Scan Magazine, Öznek is joined by head of communications and education Sune Urth, in an office above the distillery’s large, minimalistic event space. The minimalism has been at the core of the distillery since day one. “It’s all about cutting to the bone,” explains Urth. “The mantra less is more is ingrained in how we work with everything. It permeates the entire design of the interior of the house – we don’t hide anything, because our methods are not based on some sort of secret recipe – it’s based on science, and even if people see exactly what we do, they can’t replicate it.”
If it sounds self-assured, it is not without reason; on 1 October 2025, the distillery proved its point by winning a Master Award at one of the world’s most prestigious competitions, The Luxury Masters.
A love for bacteria
Ask Öznek what makes Copenhagen Distillery stand out, and he barely pauses. “Whisky has been around for hundreds of years, but Denmark has no real whisky tradition,” he says. “So why copy someone else’s masterpiece? We wanted to define what Danish whisky could be – bottle, method, flavour and look – making everything our own.”
The science begins in the grain. Copenhagen Distillery works exclusively with local, organic barley and the micro-organisms that come with it. “Danish barley carries heat-tolerant lactic acid bacteria that survive malting,” explains Öznek. “Most places try to kill or wash everything away; we deliberately keep them in play, because they are part of our flavour.”
The team mashes gently to protect those micro-biomes, refuses to lauter, and, unlike other whisky distilleries, ferments the whole porridge of grain and liquid. “It looks wrong if you’re used to clarity,” Öznek grins. “But clarity is not a flavour.” Fermentations run not for the usual 72 hours but seven to ten days, long enough for yeast and bacteria to weave layered esters and acids into the wash. “We don’t do trial and error – everything is scientifically sound,” he says. “Our goal is to express a sense of place – a Danishness. The whisky profiles from Scotland and Kentucky are masterpieces in their own right, but ours is a different expression, born of Nordic microclimate and a scientific ethos. We aren’t here to replicate, we seek to redefine.”
All casks are bespoke, made from virgin Hungarian oak from 150-year-old trees
Rethinking the machine
Continuing their meticulous approach, the distillation process is a study in intentional deviation. Rather than the traditional multipass pot still routine, Copenhagen Distillery employs a single, exacting distillation on a contemporary Müller hybrid still. This is not for speed, but for unparalleled control, allowing them to sculpt the spirit’s character with the precision of a master craftsman. The result is a New Make Spirit clean enough to sip, yet loaded with character. “Journalists sometimes tell us to bottle it as is,” he laughs, but of course they don’t. To be considered whisky, the spirit must age in wood.
Wood, in this case, means virgin Hungarian oak in bespoke casks coopered from tight-grained 150-year-old trees grown high on cool slopes and air-dried before being toasted, not charred, to the distillery’s specification. Toasting – essentially a slow bake – caramelises sugars and opens a different register of aromas to charring: think coffee, dark sugars, stone fruit and warm spice, without the blanket of charcoal.
Purposeful maturation
The next step is storage and ageing. Where Scotch warehouses lean on chilly constancy, Copenhagen Distillery embraces movement. The team harnesses residual process heat and a purpose-built warm warehouse outside the city to drive temperature cycles. “Temperature changes are like agitation – everything moves,” says Öznek. “Diffusion happens faster when you add energy. It is basic chemistry, like making tea; you know it’s going to be faster if you use hot water and move the bag.”
This philosophy prioritises purposeful maturation over prolonged ageing. While they honour the three-year legal benchmark, their focus is not on using time to eliminate inherent flaws – a process often central to traditional methods. “Our spirit is crafted for purity from its inception,” Öznek explains. “Rather than dedicating years to correction, we invest that time in a more enriching pursuit: the deliberate and graceful layering of complexity.”
Occasionally, the team matures spirit in casks previously used for gin and aquavit, not for novelty but for nuance, and of course, both the casks and the gin and aquavit are made distinctly to achieve the optimum result. “To make gin-cask whisky the way we do, we can’t buy off-the-shelf. That demands good gin, so we make both the aquavit and gin ourselves and have actually won awards for them as well,” says Urth. “In 2020, before we launched the whiskies, people knew us as a gin distillery even though that was never the plan.”
Everything, including labels, is made in Denmark or Europe.
Green by design
Important to Öznek is to stress that everything is done by design, nothing has come by coincidence. Sustainability, too, is built into the process. All the barley is organic; cooling water is captured and reused in the next mash; steam does the cleaning rather than harsh chemicals; electricity is from wind and solar; and spent grain leaves as feed for nearby farms. Even citrus peels from the bar are looped back into gin production. “We run the bar under a simple idea: don’t get wasted,” says Urth, smiling.
The Aquavit and Smørrebrød tasting is one of many tastings and workshops available at Copenhagen Distillery.
Visit the distillery
The bar, open from Thursday to Saturday, is just one of the many places people can experience the work of Copenhagen Distillery. The large event space also hosts gin-making workshops, tours, concerts, and, of course, whisky tastings, attracting a vibrant mix of locals, tourists and whisky nerds. “Many of our younger visitors often start the night with the gin-making or cocktail class, then stay for drinks and music before heading out to town,” explains Urth.
During November and December, visitors also have the chance to try out the distillery’s quintessentially Danish Aquavit and Smørrebrød (open ryebread sandwiches) tastings every Friday and Saturday.
With a background in science, master distiller Lasse Öznek leaves nothing to chance.
Recognition follows rebellion
This meticulous approach has garnered respect from the global spirits community. Last year, a collaboration with Harvey Nichols – a Scandinavian whisky matured in aquavit-seasoned casks – impressed even the top of the league. “Suddenly, spirits magazines were calling it one of the most innovative products of the year,” says Urth.
In the end, Copenhagen Distillery’s achievement is about authorship. It is about applying a Nordic lens – minimalist, scientific, and deeply connected to the environment – to the art of whisky. They are not discarding the old rule books, but composing a new and compelling volume for the curator’s library.
For the discerning collector, Copenhagen Distillery offers more than a spirit; it offers a narrative. Each bottle is a testament to place, a document of scientific artistry, and an opportunity to be among the first to cultivate a taste for what is undoubtedly a future classic. To experience this liquid art is to understand the future of whisky curation.
Head of communications and education, Sune Urth, behind the bar.
www.copenhagendistillery.com
Facebook: Copenhagen Distillery
Instagram: @copenhagendistillery
TikTok: @copenhagendistillery
The range – RAW, REFINED and RARE
RAW is organic single malt in virgin, toasted (non-charred) Hungarian oak: ripe fruit, honeyed grain, coconut and white pepper.
REFINED layers cold-smoked malt and seasoned casks for Danish-bitters and rye-bread echoes.
RARE is the playground: ancient grains, unexpected casks, experimental ferments – the bottled “what if?”
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