The Story of Stauning Whisky: From Butcher's Shop to Distillery

Stauning Whisky was started in 2005 by nine friends in a former butcher's shop in West Jutland. None of them had made whisky before. Today it is one of the best-known Danish distilleries. Here is the story, and what has not changed along the way.

Nine friends and a butcher's shop

Stauning began as a hobby project in 2005. Among the nine founders were four civil engineers, including Lasse Vesterby, who later became managing director of the distillery. The goal was a whisky made exclusively from Danish ingredients.

Production took place in a former butcher's shop in the village of Stauning, which gave the distillery its name. Even then they malted the grain themselves on the floor, the way it was done before malting was industrialised.

2006: First distillate and a turning point

The first distillation took place in 2006. According to the founders, the plan was actually to stop there: they had proven it could be done and put production on hold. But that same year the British whisky writer Jim Murray tasted their whisky, and his enthusiastic reaction made them carry on.

From hobby to major distillery

Since then Stauning has received backing from Diageo and Distill Ventures. In 2018 the distillery built new facilities in Stauning, sized for around 900,000 litres of whisky a year. The old distillery next door was turned into a visitor centre.

What has not changed

Although production has grown significantly, Stauning still works the same way as in the butcher's shop, just on a larger scale:

• Only Danish grain: Barley and rye, grown locally.
• Floor malting: All grain is malted on the distillery's own floors.
• Local smoke: For the smoky whiskies, the malt is dried over peat from a nearby bog and sometimes heather.
• Direct-fired stills: The distillery has 24 small pot stills that are heated directly rather than with steam.

The whole process is described in What does grain-to-glass mean?, and the choice of grain in Danish barley and rye.

Stauning today

The range spans from rye whisky to smoky single malt. To read about the individual bottles, start with Stauning Smoke, Stauning Rye or Stauning Kaos. Not sure which to choose? Read Single malt or rye?

Want to see the distillery for yourself? Read Visit Stauning Whisky. You will find the full range of Stauning whisky at Whiskystack.

Read also

• Danish whisky