A whisky with no secrets In Denmark, Stauning Whisky is already iconic. Why? It is not just because it is a single malt whisky made in Denmark, though to be honest, that might have been reason enough. No, it is because it is a Danish whisky made by nine guys with no previous experience of whisky making, who today, with the backing of Diageo and Distill Ventures, produce 900,000 litres of whisky per year. This spring, the company’s new distillery opens up for visitors and shares the secrets of its success. By Signe Hansen | Photos: Stauning Whisky
Located right next to its new awardwinning distillery, opened last winter, Stauning Whisky’s old distillery has been turned into a visitor centre. Combined, the two sites offer guests not just a peek, but full disclosure of the secrets behind what could, in the words of whisky legend Jim Murray, “go on to be one of the best smoked whiskies in the world”. Murray tasted the whisky in 2006, shortly after the nine friends behind Stauning Whisky had tapped their first batch. “At 16 | Issue 122 | March 2019
that point, we had actually put the production on pause. We had made our first batch, proved that we could do it, and we were quite happy to leave it at that,” explains Alex Munch, one of the nine founders and CMO of Stauning Whisky. “If it hadn’t been for our meeting with Jim Murray, I’m not sure Stauning Whisky would have existed today.” However, Murray’s enthusiastic response when tasting their whisky convinced the
nine friends that their whisky distillery might have the potential to become more than a hobby.
Taking the old craft to new levels When the founders of Stauning Whisky first decided to try out their skills with whisky making, it was simply a quest to see if it was possible to produce a whisky in Denmark at all. Never had the nine friends, none of whom had any experi-