Their story begins in an old slaughterhouse in the small town of Stauning, which was converted into a distillery with an experimental entrepreneurial spirit. From the Lego labeling machine to the “malt turner,” the founders built a lot of things themselves and used what was available. Such as a meat grinder to grind the grain. With its own malt floor or the 24 small, directly fired copper pot stills, Stauning still uses a mixture of classic methods that were lost in the course of industrialization in combination with new ideas. Since 2018, they have been at home in the iconic new distillery with its striking silhouette, which makes all the steps in whiskey production clear through its large windows.
The nine friends' joy in experimenting also extends to their Danish whiskeys. Their goal: whiskeys with a clearly Danish character that aromatically reflect and celebrate their origins. The basis for Stauning production is therefore everything that grows around the distillery: locally grown barley and rye, peat from the Klosterlund Museum, which documents Denmark's peat extraction, and heather. Distillation over an open fire gives the partly smoked New Make deep, complex aromas. It reaches full maturity in Bourbon Barrels and Virgin Oak Casks or in barrels pre-filled with Mezcal, Cognac, Calvados, Rum or Vermouth.
Third in the league is KAOS – basically everything Stauning does in one bottle. Some smoke, some spice, sweetness and a lot of complexity come together in an extremely versatile whiskey. To achieve this, the distillers combine RYE with smoky single malt whiskeys from the distillery. The name KAOS is based on Thorvald Stauning, who used the slogan “Stauning or Chaos” to get re-elected as Danish Prime Minister in 1935. What defines Stauning is no longer just in the bottle. The new bottles depict the history of the distillery on Ringkøbing Fjord - lavishly illustrated by the Danish artist Asbjørn Staunstrup Lund. The slanted matt black coating is based on the striking angles of the distillery building. The best thing: Despite more content, the likeable Danes are largely sticking to their pricing.
Four engineers, a teacher, a cook, a butcher, a helicopter pilot and a doctor meet... In the case of Stauning, it's not a joke, but the beginning of an extremely successful journey into the world of single malt and the like. The nine friends came in 2005 together - equipped with a wealth of experience from a wide variety of professions, just not in whiskey production. But that didn't stop the adventurous Danes from putting a common vision into practice: making whiskeys with a distinctively Danish character. “It captures the smell of the land, the dunes, the heath and the wind. A whiskey that reflects the place: open, wild, relaxed, pure,” says whiskey author Dave Broom, for example, enthusiastically about Stauning. Since the first bottling in 2011, the Young Rye, the distillery from the Danish west coast has achieved international recognition. Now the standard range consisting of RYE, KAOS and SMOKE (previously PEAT) is available in the larger 0.7 liter bottle with a completely new design.
This is how fascinating bottlings like RYE are created. 51% rye and 49% barley malt - each from the in-house malt floor - form the basis for Stauning's standard. This reflects the founders' spirit of adventure, as malting rye is rather unusual for good reason. The effort for the whiskey is worth it with clear grain notes and a long, soft, fruity-sweet finish. In addition to this liquid version of freshly baked rye bread, SMOKE is part of the core range. To further develop PEAT, malt is smoked over a combination of peat and some heather, which gives the whiskey uniquely Danish flavors. Matured with plenty of air from the west coast of Denmark, the smoky Dane balances fresh lemon notes and campfire smoke.