Hinrichsen’s Farm sits out on Föhr like it’s been there forever, because in many ways it has. This is whisky born from fields, weather, and a stubborn refusal to separate farming from distilling. You don’t visit Hinrichsen’s to be entertained. You visit to understand how place becomes flavor. The wind matters. The soil matters. The cows, the grain, the food, the people, all of it is part of the same closed loop. Their whisky tastes like restraint, patience, and the confidence that comes from doing fewer things better. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t have to.
When you talk to Jan Hinrichsen, he’ll tell you he’s a farmer. He grew up wanting to be a farmer. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather were farmers. Keep going back to the 1600s on tiny Fohr Island, stranded in the cold North Sea off...
We all have preconceived notions of places and countries and when you get to go, you are sometimes surprised. I had a lot of those about Germany and yes, I was surprised. The Trains. I had a hell of a couple days getting from Amsterdam to Dagebull, where I get on the...
Marret Hinrichsen makes the world’s best hamburger. I know. That’s a big claim, and how dare I? I haven’t had every hamburger on this planet. How many places can you buy a burger on Planet Earth? Well, now that our lives are being overshadowed by AI, I asked how many...
There is a whisky festival on an island in East Berlin, as in, on the other side of the old wall. I'm willing to bet you didn't know there was an island in East Berlin. Kopenicker is an actual island with several bridges, on a river in the heart of what, not all that...
There is a whisky festival in Berlin, and Jan Hinrichsen and I drove the six hours to get there from Fohr Island. Up at 5:00 am, through the dark back roads on the island to the ferry, which is a rather bright, cheerful place. Half the main passenger deck was a huge...
Chances are pretty good that unless you’re from Germany or Denmark, you’ve never heard of the place and a fascinating family-owned farm that’s evolved for what is now four hundred years. FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. I hadn’t. I hadn’t heard of the farm or the island. So when I...
There is a café at the Hinrichsen’s Farm and Distillery, and I haven’t been able to find a sign anywhere, but it’s full of people. I ate there and I see why, but I’m not sure yet how. Marret Hinrichsen runs it, and the food is fantastic. I watched giant burgers and...
The Frisian Island of Fohr is about the most perfect place I’ve ever encountered. Yeah, I’ve only been here around two-thirds of a day, but it checks off all the boxes. First off, islands have their own juju. I’ve never been on an island that didn’t have some magic....
The good folks at Henrichsen's sent me a couple of bottles of their amazing whisky, which welcomed me when I got home from Europe. Loree and I waited till 5:00 to give it a try and wow... It's 115 proof, which is rare enough. A sip at neat, and I was shocked that 115...