Austrian whisky makes its mark
This month’s issue of Whisky Business, City AM’s monthly look at the world of whisky, takes a look at the whisky coming out of Austria.
Austria’s spirits market is worth around €360m a year, with whisky exports accounting for about 10 per cent of that, according to figures published in 2024. That makes the company a minnow in the world whisky stage (the Scotch whisky export market is worth £5.4bn annually).
However, despite its size, there are some interesting things going on within the relatively young Austrian whisky market. For most of the country’s whisky producers, the spirit is only a sideline to a wider business. Austria is best known for its schnapps, brandy and, of course, beer, and producers are using these legacy products to add an extra layer of depth to their whisky sidelines.
Austria’s growing whisky sector
Waldviertler Roggenhof (Haider Distillery) in Lower Austria started producing the first Austrian whisky in 1995. Nearly 20 years later, in 2012, the Austrian Whisky Association was founded and today approximately 13 prominent regional distilleries feed into the AWA.
Austrian whisky has similar constraints and quality controls to those found around the world. It must be made in Austria, aged in oak for three years. And matured in the country without artificial flavouring.
And if you could pick anywhere in the world to develop a new-world whisky, Austria would be on the list. Maybe not in the top 10, but maybe in the top 20. Water is one of the most important ingredients for high-quality whisky, and Austria has access to some of the best water around from the Austrian Alps. It also has plentiful supplies of locally grown rye, spelt, barley, wheat and oats.
Then there are the casks. Austria’s whisky industry isn’t constrained by historic and legacy rules or guidelines around cask use. As a result, producers are experimenting with local wine casks, beer casks, schnapps casks and other types of wood, such as cherry wood, pumpkin seed or fortified pear wine barrels.
This experimentation is producing some incredibly interesting whisky with a completely different flavour from the usual styles available on the market. One such drink is Fissky Imperial, a premium Tyrolean single malt whisky crafted by the award-winning Brennerei Maass (Maass-brand) based in Prutz, Tyrol.
The inaugural edition was distilled in 2013 and spent six years in premium wine casks before its official release in 2019. It has a bold, earthy flavour, derived from Fisser Imperial Gerste (Fiss Imperial Barley), a resilient, ancient grain native to the high-altitude plateau of Fiss in the West of the country. This bold, complex whisky is characterised by powerful notes of smoky malt, intense grain, ash, peat, and leather, balanced by smoother undertones of caramel, honey, vanilla, and roasted coffee. It’s certainly worth trying if you can get yourself a bottle.
New-world Austrian whisky
Elsewhere, there’s the award-winning Rauchkofel, Cask 169. Named after Rauchkofel, a volcano that never erupted, the whisky is made from locally grown East Tyrolean barley. Matured in first-fill Styrian Oak casks and finished in PX Sherry casks, the whisky has notes of plum schnapps, rosewater ginger cake, coal tar, and tarragon. Or there’s Austria’s first whisky, Original Rye Whisky J.H. The spirit is made from locally grown rye and malted barley and the distillery uses local Manhartsberg summer oak (grown in the Manhartsberg ridge region in Lower Austria) barrels rather than standard imported casks.
For something really special, it’s worth looking across the border to Switzerland. The Säntis Kamor old oak beer cask single malt is aged, as its name suggests, in ancient wooden casks found in the brewery’s cellars. The same family has owned the brewery for five generations, with some casks dating back 130 years.
With over 100 different types of whisk(e)y, the bar at Schlosshotel Fiss is the perfect location in Austria to sample some of the region’s new whisky creations. The bar has won accolades for its cocktail menu and range of spirits, winning gold in the Falstaff Bar Guide 2026. Perched at 1,438 meters in Austria’s Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis region, the hotel is perfect for both skiing and summer hiking.
The premier 5-star luxury alpine resort features a 5,000 m² spa with the Aqua Monte Waterworld, adult-only wellness zones, and family splash pools. Gourmet dining encompasses the generous SHF luxury restaurant and the Michelin-starred Beef Club restaurant. With an expansive Kids Club, activity lounge, and private cinema, it’s a great spot for a relaxing getaway for whisky enthusiasts and non-drinkers alike.