NEW NORDIC WHISKY FROM THE WEST COAST OF DENMARK
Distilling is a journey which starts in the field and ends in the spirit flowing from the still
Outside the small village of Stauning, whisky is being made the Stauning way: Local grains, floor malting and direct-fired small pot stills. That’s how this whisky best reflect the surroundings by the West Coast: the wind, the soil, the crops, the water and the peat.
The Story of Stauning Whisky begins on a weekend trip in Denmark in May 2005. While enjoying a glass of single malt scotch whisky we began to wonder why no one in Denmark makes whisky.
Our climate, quality barley and pure water covers all the requirements. We simply had to try and make a Danish single malt whisky of finest quality. Nine friends started out on this new hobby. A hobby that soon consumed all our spare time. With a former butcher in the group we had our premises.
We needed to spend some time on fixing them up so they could be approved for the production of whisky. We could finally buy the most important equipment of all – the pot stills. Pot stills are not exactly a standard product in Denmark, so we ended up having them custom made in Spain and transported to Denmark. A 400 litre wash still and a 200 litre spirit still. Besides the pot stills for distillation we needed to find solutions for many other tasks and problems. Malting the barley, the kiln, mash tun, fermentation vessels etc. Many ideas were generated, and many crazy but effective inventions were made and finally we were ready to produce.
Images © Stauning
Stauning Whisky was founded by a group of nine
We are a mixed bunch consisting of four engineers, a teacher, a chef, a butcher, a pilot and a doctor. Our different backgrounds have been our strength throughout the work involved in setting up the distillery right from scratch. Stauning Whisky is the only active Danish whisky production that only uses malted Danish barley and malted Danish rye, while using copper pot stills for distillation. For the production of Stauning Whisky, there are no shortcuts or compromises on the way to the finished product.
- We use local Danish barley and rye, we floor malt ourselves.
- We use Danish peat and heather for the Smoked Whisky.
- We use direct heated pot stills for distillation.
We have great respect for the whisky production in Scotland, and have chosen to follow their historical production principles. In this way we ensure that Stauning Whisky is truly unique. Both the only one of its kind, and a whisky with high quality, character and history.
We are driven by curiosity and the guideline has always been premium quality. These two elements have also carried the development of our new distillery. All the inventions that they have developed over time have been brought into the new distillery buildings. We still floor malt all our grain and we still use direct heated stills – but we now use 24 small pot stills.
DISTILLERY INFO
