For decades, whisky lovers in Sweden believed that Skeppets Whisky, launched by Vin & Sprit in the 1950s, marked the country’s first whisky. But a documentary by Carl Lönndahl has upended that belief — revealing that Sweden’s first whisky was, in fact, distilled and sold in the 19th century.
Watch the Documentary
“Between Yeast and Stills: The Story of Sweden’s First Whisky”
Filmmaker Carl Lönndahl — known from Whiskypodden and WhiskyABC Magazine — takes viewers on a historical treasure hunt through Stockholm, Gothenburg, Wick, and Campbeltown, uncovering a forgotten legacy of Swedish distilling.
A Podcast Sparks a Mystery
The journey began almost by accident. In 2018, Lönndahl hosted whisky historian Håkan Staaf on Whiskypodden. Their conversation turned to old distilleries — especially the Helsingborg Yeast and Spirits Factory, rumored to have once produced whisky.
At the time, everyone assumed Sweden’s whisky story began with Mackmyra in 1999.
But Staaf mentioned whispers of an even older origin — at Gothenburg Yeast and Spirits Factory, founded in 1875. That hint set Lönndahl on a search through archives, museums, and family papers.
From Helsingborg to Gothenburg
Newspaper articles from 1892 revealed something astonishing.
The first mentioned Helsingborg’s intent to make “Swedish whisky.”
But just sixteen days later, another article claimed whisky “according to Scotch standards” had already been made for four years — not in Helsingborg, but in Gothenburg.
If true, this meant Swedish whisky production began in 1888 — long before Skeppets or even the idea of modern Swedish distilleries existed.
Lönndahl’s search zeroed in on Gothenburg Yeast and Spirits Factory in Mölndal, a small yeast producer that had experimented with spirits such as punch, cognac — and, apparently, whisky.
The Whisky Detectives
To verify the story, Lönndahl turned to whisky historian Louis Reps, author of The Whisky GPS.
Reps explained that in the late 1800s, Sweden’s spirit market was dominated by aquavit, brandy, and punch, while whisky barely existed. Yet an international whisky boom — caused partly by the phylloxera plague that devastated France’s wine and cognac production — made whisky a lucrative new opportunity.
For small producers like Gothenburg’s yeast factory, whisky was a way to stand apart from the aquavit giants. It was a risk — but one that might just have paid off.
Following in Olsson’s Footsteps
The research soon led to Gottfrid Olsson, the factory’s distillery manager — and perhaps the first Swedish whisky maker.
Through his surviving diaries, Lönndahl discovered that Olsson had trained in Scotland in 1872, visiting:
- Old Pulteney in Wick
- Millburn in Inverness
- Glen Scotia in Campbeltown
Each visit revealed a connection between Sweden and the golden age of Scottish whisky.
At Old Pulteney, manager Malcolm Waring explained how the seaside distillery shaped a peated, salty whisky style — the kind Olsson likely wanted to recreate back home.
And in Campbeltown, Glen Scotia’s Iain McAlister described the 1870s as whisky’s “boom years,” when 35 distilleries filled the air with smoke and spirit.
“Gottfrid Olsson was the founding father of the Swedish whisky industry,”
said McAlister in the film, describing him as a “go-ahead, innovative man”.
The Breakthrough in Sollentuna
Despite the historical breadcrumbs, there was still no proof that whisky had been sold.
For Lönndahl, “proof” meant one thing — financial records.
That evidence finally appeared in the archives of Sollentuna Municipality, where part of the old Yeast Company’s ledgers were preserved. There, among the dusty reports, one entry stood out: clear financial statements showing revenue from whisky sales.
After three months of searching, they had their proof.
The Gothenburg Yeast and Spirits Factory had both produced and sold whisky in the 1890s — over 60 years before Vin & Sprit launched Skeppets.
Rewriting Swedish Whisky History
The discovery astonished even veteran historians.
Håkan Staaf, long considered the “professor of Whiskypodden,” admitted that he “stood corrected.”
Lönndahl summed it up simply:
“That Sweden — today known for its massive interest in whisky — produced whisky already in the 19th century is astounding.”
This revelation means that Sweden’s whisky heritage began not with Skeppets, not with Mackmyra — but with a small factory in Mölndal, experimenting with Scottish methods in an age when most Swedes had never even heard of whisky.
What Did It Taste Like?
No bottle has ever been found, but experts believe the whisky would have been:
- Heavily peated and smoky
- Matured in sherry casks
- Influenced by the salty air of the Swedish west coast
In short — a maritime whisky with echoes of both Old Pulteney and Glen Scotia.
Louis Reps compared the discovery to “finding a golden nugget,” the missing link in how whisky first took root in Sweden.
Whisky in Our Veins
Though the taste of Gothenburg’s 19th-century whisky may be lost forever, the story proves one thing: Sweden was a whisky nation long before anyone realized it.
“Even though we might never know how it tasted,” Lönndahl concludes in the film,
“it is clear that Sweden was a pioneer of whisky already in the 19th century — whisky is in our veins.”
The discovery doesn’t just change a timeline — it restores a forgotten pride. From Mölndal’s yeast stills to today’s distilleries, Swedish whisky has always carried the quiet, smoky heartbeat of its origins.