All Thy Whisky is organic. Nearly 30 years ago, we radically changed our approach to farming. We parked the pesticide sprayer and stopped using artificial fertilizers. We converted our fields to organic farming and haven't looked back since. These days, as we are busy with the combine harvester in our fields, it's to harvest eight different crops, including old barley varieties, modern rye, broad beans, and gluten-free oats. Because variation is the key to healthy, fertile soil.
Organic farming essentially means that we don't use any chemicals on our fields. Artificial fertilizers have been replaced by nature's own methods for nitrogen fixation, and pesticides have been replaced by mechanical weed control and crop rotation. But it doesn't stop there.
Central to organic farming is also the constant improvement of soil quality, rather than depleting it. We work with regenerative farming methods to enhance the quality of the soil, microorganisms, biodiversity, and always aim to make conditions around us a little better.
Fertile soil is key. Soil has an enormous potential to bind carbon. The higher the humus content, the more carbon (and CO2) it can bind. As organic farmers, we rely on regenerative cultivation methods, using cover crops and dedicated crop rotations to enhance soil fertility.
Learn more about our work with regenerative methods.
Building up soil fertility takes many years. Our long-term goal is to increase the humus content in the soil. That’s why we take soil samples to monitor progress.
Another important key to success is variation—what we as farmers call crop rotation. If we only grew barley, we would deplete the soil and weeds would take over. Fortunately, there are crops that thrive after barley. Rye, in contrast, is a more resilient plant that requires less nitrogen and is also good at fighting weeds. By planting rye in the fall, it binds the soil's nitrogen and carbon before putting the field into a green winter hibernation. By spring, it quickly covers the soil with its green growth.
This is why we utilize all our different types of grains when we malt, brew, and distill our spirits. What could be seen as a limitation gives us a playground of combinations and complexity.
Try, for example, our award-winning Spelt-Rye, which takes full advantage of crop rotation to create a fresh and spicy rye whisky.
Can you taste the fact that it's organic? You'll have to judge for yourself, but we know that keeping chemicals off our fields protects our groundwater, our soil, and our environment, making it more prepared for the future.
