SLYRS began making single malt whisky in 1999, after Florian Stetter bet in 1994 that first-class whisky could be made in Bavaria.1,2,3 A new production hall by Lake Schliersee opened in June 2025, built to make much more whisky than the site made before.1,4,5
Brewer and master distiller Florian Stetter visited Speyside distilleries on a study trip to Scotland in 1994, where he bet his colleagues a crate of wheat beer.1,2 In 1999 the first SLYRS was distilled at Lantenhammer Distillery, a schnapps distillery the Stetter family runs.1,2
SLYRS built its own distillery in Neuhaus am Schliersee, paid for partly from Lantenhammer's cash flow and Anton Stetter's own money.1,6,7 From 2007 the whole making process took place there, and friends of the whisky joined the firm as shareholders.1,6,7 Hans Kemenater, who had distilled the first SLYRS as an apprentice, took charge of production.1,7,8 In December 2014 SLYRS opened a warehouse at 1501 metres on the summit of the Stümpfling mountain.1,2,3 It holds up to 40 barrels of 225 litres, and whisky stored there is expected to taste different from whisky aged in the valley.1,2,3 In 2016 SLYRS added another cask hall and a larger store for rare casks.1,2,9 In 2017 Hans Kemenater took over from co-founder Anton Stetter as managing director.1,7,8
In 2024 SLYRS began tearing down its old production hall to make way for a new one.1,10 Steffen Brandt joined as co-managing director for sales and marketing in 2025.1,11 Built in 9 months, the new hall has copper stills made to SLYRS's own needs and, SLYRS says, a heat pump, solar panels and heat recovery to cut energy use.1,4,5 In 2025 Kemenater left the management at his own request; his duties were to pass to Brandt, and he was to stay on as an adviser.2,8
SLYRS uses two-row spring barley from the Munich area, malted at a special malting plant.12 Its water comes from the Bannwald spring in the Schliersee Alps.12 Fermentation takes several days, which SLYRS says is longer than at many other distilleries.12 SLYRS credits its own fermentation method and home-grown yeasts for its fruity and spicy aroma.12 The whisky ages in new American white oak casks from World Cooperage in the Missouri Ozark Forest.12
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