Copper pot stills made in Moray are a key part of the production process behind Italy’s first foray into whisky-making.
PUNI Distillery, based in the shadow of the Italian Alps in the in the South Tyrol region, has just bottled and launched its first single malt.
It is just over five years since the distillery was established and three since the process of making its first whisky began.
Any Scottish visitors to the production plant will notice a familiar name in the industry – the huge stills bear the name of Rothes firm Forsyths, which manufactures stills for whisky distilleries and also produces goods for the international oil and gas market.
PUNI says its whisky, made with locally sourced grain and pure mountain spring water, matures much faster than other whiskies due to considerable seasonal temperature variations.
The newcomer aiming to muscle in on growing global demand for Scotland’s national drink and other whiskies or whiskeys has released two expressions, PUNI Alba and PUNI Nova.
Alba, promising a “complex bouquet of candy fruits, sultanas and exotic fruits entwined with warm, reassuring hints of smoke”, was matured for more than two years in Marsala dessert wine casks and one year in ex-Islay casks.
According to the firm which makes it, the result combines “the fruity flavours of Italy” and “the smoky notes” of Islay.
Nova, matured for three years in ex-bourbon barrels from the US and finished in European oak casks, is described as “a wonderfully delicate yet spicy single malt with warming and sweet aromas of honey, banana and vanilla”.
Jonas Ebensperger, one of the founders of the family-run business, said: “After nurturing our special liquid for so many years, we are very proud to be finally able to share our new Italian-born whisky with the world.
“We put all our hearts into the making this … and are very excited to give whisky lovers all over the world a chance to taste it.”
Forsyths, now owned by Rothes Football Club benefactor Richard Forsyth, has its roots in a brass and copperworks bought by Alexander Forsyth in 1933.
It almost went out of business after the start of World War II but then saw boom times as the whisky industry thrived in the 1960s and 1970s.