Our Story
Kattilalaakson Tislaamo was founded from a passion to produce unique, high-quality drinks that capture the diversity and purity of Finnish nature.
It All Started from Rye Bread
01 / BEGINNING
It all started from a warm rye bread.
Long before supermarket bakeries and semibaked bread I bought a warm rye loaf, just from the oven. Half of the loaf vanished first night and I was hooked on.
Own Bread and Oven
02 / LÄHTÖ
Years after my first warm rye bread I decided to make my own rye bread. I made own sourdough starter and baked the first bread in my home oven. Then came a pizza stone and after some time I build a wood fired oven on my backyard. Besides bread I also baked pizzas, karelian pies and even whole pork ham for christmas.
As the bread improved, I went further.
I bought a grain mill and 40 kg bag of rye and improved the bread again. Next step seemed logical: to grow my own rye. Not a modern rye variety, but old Finnish slash and burn rye
Seeds and Soil
03 / CHALLENGES
There were two challenges: where to find seeds and farm land.
I finally found old Finnish slash and burn rye seeds in Denmark. The field was found in Merikarvia, at my friend Jaska's farm. First crop was about 16kg of rye. I lucky to bake maybe the most expensive rye bread in the world: 3 guys took Friday off the work, drove 600km in a weekend and not to forget all the food and drinks the harvesters needed.
The Enthusiasm Did Not Die
04 / RYE WHISKY
Next goal was to make growing rye more profitable. My friend Kimmo has farming land much closer in Mäntsälä and I lured him into the project with two words: rye whisky.
We grew our own slash and burn qye for several years with variable success. The success varied between bad and terrible. Two times we got enough rye for small batch of whisky.
The First Batches of Whisky
05 / CASKS
The first test batch of whisky was matured in a 2 liter Polish oak cask. The result surprised also the maker. The second batch matured in a self made cask, made of Finnish oak. It got recognition from Finnish whisky experts.
The Family Came Along
06 / ABSINTHE
At the same time the family came along. My eldest son Lassi proposed to try making absinthe. The first test batch was almost on the same level as commercial products and the following batches were even better.
We had two exeptionally good drinks in our hands.
Then the idea of commercial distillery started to feel right.
Kattilalaakso Distillery Starts
07 / DISTILLERY STARTS
Me, Kimmo and Lassi gathered around us same minded friends who believed our way to do things. In late winter 2024 the commercial production of Kattilalaakso Distillery started.
Handcraft, Curiosity and Finnish Roots
08 / PRINCIPLES
Kattilalaakso Distillery was born out of passion to understand ingredients, test the limits and do it yourself - from the scratch.
Rye bread became grain. The grain became the whisky. Testing became knowledge. Hobby became the Distillery
Our Story Continues
09 / FUTURE
Even today our operation is directed by same principles as in the beginning: quality, locality and desire to make things little better than yesterday.
All our drinks are produced in Espoo, Finland and handcrafted in small batches. They are tribute to Finnish nature, traditions an brave making.
This is the story of Kattilalaakso Distillery and it just started.
Timo Knuuttila, master distiller