explorers in whisky since 1999.
The Mackmyra Story - The Swedish Pioneer
The idea to produce a Swedish whisky was conceived by eight friends in a mountain cabin back in 1998. To ensure they stayed in touch after studying engineering together, the group had a tradition of meeting up in Sälen once a year. This time, purely by chance, everyone had brought along a bottle of whisky. During dinner, one of them wondered why there was no Swedish malt whisky, and, if it was possible, why hadn’t anyone already done it? The question remained unanswered but, before long,the vision to become pioneers and produce the first Swedish malt whisky took shape. One year later, in 1999, Mackmyra Svensk Whisky was established.
From the outset Mackmyra was fully focused on creating a whisky which was quintessentially Swedish. The journey began with local barley,spring water and Swedish oak. Then, thanks to a lucky coincidence, Mackmyra developed the 30-litre cask which, in its smaller format,allows the whisky to mature more intensively. Even the smoky recipe has a Swedish signature and is malted and smoked by hand using locally cut peat together with juniper twigs. A short distance from the distillery, the whisky is then aged in a unique location; the old Bodås Mine, 50 metres underground.
Today, Mackmyra produces whisky with the same curiosity and experimental zeal as in 1999, but now in the ground-breaking Gravity Distillery, which harnesses the force of gravity to aid production and is designed to substantially reduce the carbon footprint.Guided by the historical knowledge of whisky production, Mackmyra employs its own methods to create innovative products using Swedish ingredients.
Bruks Distillery
The distillery at Mackmyra Bruk was opened in 2002 and is a full scale pot-still distillery. It’s here that Mackmyra distilled their first single malt whisky up until year 2011, when the Gravity distillery in Mackmyra Whisky village opened and the production was moved. In 2017, the distillery at Mackmyra Bruk was brought back up and running under the name Lab+Distillery by Mackmyra, with the purpose to produce new innovative spirit-categories in collaboration with skilled craft distillers.
MILESTONES
1998 - The idea of a Swedish malt whisky is born
1999 - The first drops are distilled
2000 - The first 30-liter barrel is created
2001 - The Mackmyra recipes, Elegant and Smoke, are launched
2002 - Mackmyra Reserve is launched – it becomes possible to buy a custom barrel
2003 - A new warehouse on Fjäderholmarna in the Stockholm archipelago opens
2004 - Bodås Mine becomes Mackmyras main warehouse
2006 - A new warehouse at Häckeberga Castle in Skåne opens
2007 - A new warehouse on the west coast of Smögen opens
2008 - The first regular whisky “The First Edition” is launched
2009 - The construction of Mackmyra Whisky Village in Gävle starts
2010 - Opening of the Mackmyra Whisky Village
2011 - Gravity distillery opens in Mackmyra Whisky Village
2012 - We were appointed the European Spirits Producer of the Year by the IWSC
2013 - We launched our first smoky whisky, Svensk Rök (Swedish Smoke)
2013 - Opens an affiliate in Germany
2015 - We were appointed the World Distiller of The Year byWizards of Whisky
2016 - Launching Mack by Mackmyra
2017 - Mackmyra starts making gin at LAB Distillery
2017 - Opens an affiliate in UK
2018 - New warehouse, Hällsnäs, outside Gothenburg begins construction in
2019 - Angela D'Ozario, Mackmyra's Master Blender, inducted into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame
2019 - Celebration of Twenty Years of Swedish Whisky
Climate Smart Distillation
The eco-friendly Gravity Distillery in Mackmyra Whisky Village was completed in 2011, becoming the company’s second full-scale distillery.At the back of the distillery are two large silos each filled with around 40 tonnes of malt – one holding Mackmyra’s smoked malt and one containing unsmoked malt. The first phase of production sees the malt raised to the top of the 35-metre tall distillery. Harnessing the force of gravity between the different phases of production, the ingredients are then transported downwards, undergoing a new phase on each level.During five stages, malted barley, yeast and water are processed into a finished new make spirit.