Forss Distillery
About the distillery in brief
Forss Distillery is located in Köpmanholmen in the heart of Höga Kusten and is a small craft distillery with on-site yard sales. Here, whisky is made side by side with rum and gin, and especially the maturation in different casks is a clear part of the site’s identity. Visitors can come for tours, tastings, and cask purchases, so the place is just as much a destination for visits as it is a production site.
Raw materials and production
Forss Whisky is based on a malt blend of 70% wheat and 30% barley. The distillery fills small ex-casks with 60% Forss spirit, and the casks are an important part of the work: Swedish oak can be used with different degrees of toasting, from medium to heavily toasted and colonade casks, and a final finish on wine casks can add extra color, flavor, and character. The same approach to maturation is repeated in the rum, which is imported as West Indian rum with a blend of 80% Dominican and 20% Jamaican rum, and in the gin, where a berry profile is preserved but developed through cask aging. In other words, this is a distillery that works deliberately with maturation as a flavor-building tool, rather than focusing on large production volumes or technical details about fermentation and distillation.
Maturation and cask types
The cask program is broad and concrete: Swedish oak is used in several toast levels, from medium to heavily toasted and colonade casks, and the whisky can receive a final finish on sherry or tawny port wine casks. In addition, there is bourbon maturation on American oak, as well as wine casks as part of the range. In practice, toasting and finishing are used to move the whisky in different directions, while the same casks are also used for rum and gin. That results in a profile where maturation isn’t just a finishing step, but the very engine behind the development of flavor and character.
Whiskies
The whisky section shows a range that spans Forss Whisky #2 and Forss Whisky Swedish Oak, to variants with sherry, tawny, and bourbon. Some are sold as private import, while other variants can be purchased at Systembolaget. The range points to a producer working with the same base spirit, but letting wood, toast level, and finish define each expression. In addition to whisky, rum and gin are also produced, each with its own maturation processes, but it is the whisky that most clearly showcases the distillery’s style and level of ambition.
| Whisky | Alcohol | Cask and style | Flavor profile | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forss Whisky #2 | 45 % | Heavily roasted ex-cask of Swedish oak | Flavor: Nuanced, malty taste with clear cask character and notes of dried apricots, dark chocolate, orange peel, cardamom, walnuts, cedar, cinnamon, and vanilla.; Finish: Served at room temperature as an aperitif/avec. | Current; Core range; Buy at Systembolaget |
| Forss Whisky Swedish Oak | Swedish oak, medium toasted casks, Swedish oak, heavily toasted casks, and Swedish oak, colonade casks | Flavor: The variants are described with vanilla, slightly burnt tones, soft balance, snap and an aromatic profile, butterscotch, dark chocolate, black pepper, toffee, spiced depth, nougat, and a rounded, polished sweetness. | Current; Core range | |
| Forss Whisky Sherry | 45 % | Swedish oak with a sherry-cask finish; finish: Final finish on sherry casks | Private import; Flavor: Dried fruit, dark chocolate, and some sweetness. | Current; Core range; Private import |
| Forss Whisky Tawny | Swedish oak with a tawny port cask finish; finish: Final finish on tawny port casks | Private import; Flavor: Raisin, dried dark fruits, and vanilla. | Current; Core range; Private import | |
| Forss Whisky Bourbon | 45 % | American oak, previously bourbon-filled casks | Private import; Flavor: Round and soft, mild flavor; the other variant is described with cola, soft, mild, rounded sweetness, and a polished character. | Current; Core range; Private import |
The style and flavor profile of the whiskies
Forss’ whiskies center around a clear combination of malt, cask, and sweetness. Notes recur of vanilla, dark chocolate, and dried fruit, while several variants also lean toward butterscotch, toffee, nougat, and rounded sweetness. In addition come spiced elements like cardamom, cinnamon, and pepper, as well as more wood-driven tones like cedar and a distinctive cask character. The overall impression is a whisky profile that shifts between nuanced malty notes and deeper, more sweet cask expressions.
Visiting the distillery
Forss Distillery welcomes visitors and directly encourages booking a tour and tasting. The visit can be combined with on-site yard sales, and the possibility of buying casks is mentioned. On the premises there are also parking/service stands with service house, which can make a visit easier in connection with a tasting. Contact and booking are handled directly with the distillery, and summer opening is also mentioned every day in July. It’s a place you visit for both taste, maturation, and its small, personal format.
The stated opening hours are “Summer opening every day in July,” mentioned in the Instagram section; bookings for visits, tours, and tastings can be made through direct contact.
See times and book a visit.
Philosophy and craft
The distillery formulates a simple philosophy: to make it the same, yet still different. The goal is to create good and slightly different drinks, and the work is described as craft-focused, with flavor and tradition at the center. Cask maturation is actively used as a tool to develop and strengthen character, and that approach is repeated across whisky, rum, and gin.