Our Distillery

The first written record of distilling in Estonia goes back to 1465. In the 16th & 17th centuries, controlled spirit production and sale took shape. This generally took place on manor farms, in small vodka 'kitchens'. By the end of the 18th century, there were 731 distilleries producing 8.3 million litres of 50% ABV vodka annually; supplying pubs in Russia.

The 19th century brought an industrial revolution in alcohol production. Spirit production technology was improved by local scientists, whose developments included complete distillation, steam powered distillers, better wort preparation, new coolers, and first pure spirit. Excise duty and production rules arrived, leading to efficient modern machinery.

The 20th century brought nationalisation of the manor, and their distilleries. First, the Union of Potato Growers Association signed a contract with the government for alcohol production. Eventually, a Production Association incorporated all remaining distilleries and by independence there were only two still in operation, both state-run.

These two state-run distilleries, in Rakvere & Moe, were privitised separately after independence. They were both bought by a single company in 1999, and changed hands again in 2009. Until recently, they were the only pure spirit producer in Estonia and remain one of the main industrial ethanol suppliers for Estonian craft spirit producers.

Since our manor used to produce pure spirit and vodka, we decided to start by producing these traditional spirits, rather than taking the easy and fashionable route of making gin with someone else's ethanol. Only once we had perfected our own organic spirits, did we start with our interpretation of modern craft liqueurs – sippable and not sickly sweet.

Our award-winning organic small batch handcrafted spirits are now available from select outlets and directly from our distillery. If you ask nicely, we can give you a tour where we walk you through our grain-to-glass process — there may even be samples of our prototypes available to try, along with our products.

Just as the barons once built and grew their manors with income from their distilleries, we plan to rebuild ours with it. At the same time as buying our spirits to enjoy and share, you are helping restore cultural heritage. We plan to restore our original distillery building, fitting it out with smart and efficient equipment suitable for the 21st century.