Venakki Distillery is one to be praised in many regards. It is the pioneer of Portuguese whisky with a heavy focus on producing excellent whiskies that are unparalleled in taste and quality.

Establishment

Venakki Distillery was founded in 2012 by Jay Venakki, who remains the Master Artisan of the distillery to this day. He became intrigued by the differences in whiskies that he tasted all over the world, recalling the special stories and uniqueness of each one. When he decided to create Venakki Distillery, he had one standard that he held himself to, and that is excellence.

Soon after their establishment, they began producing cask matured spirits, most notably, their Moonshine Single Cask. In 2020, the first bottling of their flagship Venakki Woodwork Whisky, and the first ever Portuguese Single Malt Whisky, was released as a single cask, cask strength.

Venakki Distillery’s award-winning Woodwork Whisky. Photograph from Venakki Distillery.

Process

Venakki Distillery is a whisky maker based on uncommon whisky provenance; being based in a country with a long tradition of making and ageing world-renowned wines, as well as having access to some of the world’s most sought-after casks for maturing whisky, they rely heavily on their terroir and such casks to create a whisky that possesses a Portuguese allure.

They use their own estate underground source of Limestone Pure Water, as well as the best lots of barley, small-batch distilled and sculpted by time. Their whisky is then aged in very rare casks with an exclusive range of wood, toasts, and seasoned by wines, giving their whisky a unique flavour that cannot be found anywhere else. All of this is done by their passionate staff, promising that every bottle of whisky has been crafted and handled with care.

Throughout this process, they use ancient techniques that have been passed down through generations, while making use of contemporary technology and ensuring ethical management to guarantee that each cask and bottle of whisky is of high quality and extraordinary taste.

The final step of the whisky production process at Venakki Distillery is quite unique; rather than being bottled at a certain age or by other constraints, they bottle it in very small quantities when they deem the whisky ready.

Awards

While Venakki Distillery is still a relatively new distillery, their whiskies have already been recognised for their high quality and exceptional taste. The Moonshine Single Cask won 93 points in the Whisky Bible, and the Venakki Whisky Woodwork was awarded the Liquid Gold Award by Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible in 2021. This award is given to whiskies that are “…in [Jim Murray’s] view the elite; the finest you can currently find on whisky shelves of the world”. Venakki Distillery’s whiskies continue to shine in the Whisky Bible publication, with another whisky from the Woodwork collection receiving 96 points – near perfect.

Venakki Distillery is special for many reasons; not only is it one of, if not the leading distillery of Portugal, but it remains true to itself and has created somewhat of a community with its customers, with the distillery manager also being the head mixologist at their bars and the founder remaining as the Master Artisan. Venakki Distillery’s whiskies continue to be produced with the same values as from its establishment – attention to detail, exceptional quality, and overall excellence.

If you’d like to taste or invest in your own bottle of Venakki Distillery’s whiskies, visit WhiskyGenius.com.

Please enjoy whisky responsibly.

Banner photograph from Venakki Distillery.