Learn about our whisky

All whisky (and moonshine) starts its life on a farm, in the form of a grain. These grains form the backbone of what each distillery’s spirit tastes like.

At McMullen, we primarily use a heavily peated malt from Scotland, which is a grain that’s dried over an open flame. This imparts a bold, campfire taste to the spirit, which lingers in your mouth.

In addition to this smokey grain, we also use a Brown Malt, which imparts coffee, hazelnut, and biscuit flavors; and Oats, which gives our whisky a thick, juicy texture - like a warm porridge on a cold morning.

To complement these grains, we use a mix of yeasts, which create an oily, thick spirit. The result? A whisky brimming with flavor and personality - a perfect companion for life’s adventures.

Our fermenter, ‘Brewbacca’, is a large, wooden, ex-wine fermenter. When we ferment in oak, our ‘wort’ isn’t just fermenting - it’s breathing. Brewbacca is a bit harder to maintain, but it’s alive in a way that steel and plastic (which are usually used) never will be. The wood helps us get deeper, more flavorful fermentations, imparting subtly vanilla and earthy notes.

In that sense, our fermenter isn’t just a container - it’s a collaborator on this whisky journey. Over time, as each new ferment soaks through the wood, Brewbacca will help us develop a deeper, tastier, signature ‘McMullen’ flavor.

Distillation is when all the hard work from our grains, yeasts, and fermenter gets to shine.

For us, distillation is a craft. There’s nothing automated or calculated about what we’re doing - each batch is watched over and guided by hand. Our slow, ‘trickle’ distillation process takes time, but it helps us extract the best possible flavors for our whisky.

Rosie is the star of the show here, our traditional copper pot still - the same kind of still that’s been used for centuries to bring whisky to life. As we slowly distil, Rosie’s copper refines each drop, drawing out impurities so our painstakingly fermented flavors shine forward.

We’re not relying on machines and computers. This is craft intuition and sensory testing at every stage. Each batch is tested, tasted, and refined, to ensure that the spirit we put in each cask genuinely excites us.

Our casks are all chosen intentionally, to ensure they’ll shape our spirit into something memorable. Sometimes we choose the casks - other times our fans do. Either way, curiosity and the pursuit of excellent whisky is at the heart of each decision.

Ageing whisky is part art, part gamble. Once the spirit is laid down, we surrender it to time, oak, and the local climate. It’s whisky that isn’t scripted - each new batch brings its own flavor and character.

Some distilleries chase a safe, reliable spirit. We’re here' for the adventure - producing a great spirit, and seeing where the wood takes it.

Last but certainly not least - our water.

Whisky can be pretty potent coming out of the barrel, even creeping above 65% ABV. So, we’ll often (not always) mix in some water to reign in the ABV, and unpack some of the flavor hidden under the burn.

The easy option is to take some local tap water, run it through a filter, and mix it in. Not all tap water is made equal though, and when you’re paying for a premium whisky, do you really want the water coming from a tap?

Instead, we’re sourcing local water from a living, flowing spring in Olinda, which is naturally filtered by volcanic rock. This water is naturally soft and low in minerals, which means it makes way for the smoke, hazelnut, and other flavors to shine, and for the aromas to open up more freely. The water compliments our spirit, rather than weighing it down.