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Stauning new whisky distillery

HOW WE MAKE OUR WHISKY

 

Every single process in making Stauning Whisky – from the floor malting to the bottling – is done at the Distillery.

 

Our Distillery is located near the west coast of Denmark. The small village of Stauning is only a 10 minute walk from the Distillery. The history of the village and the support from the local community is reflected deeply in our Whisky. A location amidst graceful farmland, with wide open spaces and the western wind in your hair.

 

When you visit the surrounding area, you will feel how authentic the distillery is. How the local history traces from the old town centre, past the old fisherman’s wharf and right into the heart of our distillery. That is what Stauning Whisky is about; Uncompromised, traditionally handcrafted Whisky of the finest quality.

 

That is what Stauning Whisky is about; Uncompromised, traditionally handcrafted Danish whisky of the highest quality.

Handpicked locally grown rye and barley

Locally grown rye & barley

We use barley and rye from the fields surrounding the distillery – everything is grown within 3km of the Stauning Distillery.

Several times a year, we meet up with the farmer to discuss the current situation, what to expect of the upcoming harvest and what to plant for the next years.

We need to be in control. It is this grain that is the backbone of the whisky we produce in Stauning.

 

In-House Floor Malting

Every single grain is malted at the distillery. We create whisky with traditional methods, like they did it in the old days in Scotland.

At Stauning, we insist on floor malting 100% of the barley and rye for all of our whiskies. We use our own invented methods and machines, when malting both the barley and the rye.

Come see the machine that turns the grain – this invention ensure the temperature remain constant through the germination.

Stauning floor malting whisky
stauning whisky smoked peat

Terroir Smoke

The smell and taste of terroir smoke vary depending on the nature and composition of what grew in the soil thousands of years ago. At Stauning we gather local Peat and Heather, which is then cut, dried and burned as fuel. 

In our whisky-making the fragrant smoke is the interest rather than the heat. 

The unique nature, composition of the soil and the climate around the distillery creates a unique aroma and taste to the smoke – our own terroir smoke.

Mashing

For mashing, we use malted grain and hot water. In this process, we break the starch into smaller chains – it is converted into malt sugar by means of the enzymes that were formed in the germination.

The whole process of mashing is to have a sugary liquid – wort – which we later can get to ferment, thus forming alcohol.

Mashing whisky production stauning whisky produktion
fermentation of whisky at stauning distillery

Fermentation

Once the wort is cooled to the desired temperature, it is pumped into the fermentation vessel. Yeast is added under stirring, and now we wait for 2-3 days for the fermentation to complete.

During the fermentation alcohol is formed, and the fermented wort is now ready to be distilled.

Distillation

We choose a double distillation in alembic copper pot stills. First in a wash still and then in a spirit still. Not the easiest solution, but we certainly believe it is the right solution. In this way we make whisky using the same principles as the Scots have done for centuries, and we get a whisky with character.

The first distillation – The wash is pumped into our  wash stills. During distillation the wort with an alcohol content of 6-8% will be distilled to a low wine with an alcohol content of approx. 25%. This low wine is then pumped into our spirit stills for the second distillation.

The head and tail (first and last part) of the liquid are being put aside. They contain flavours that don’t fit the whisky.

The middle part is called the heart. This is what all the fuss is all about. It is this part that is ready to be filled in to oak barrels, so time and the oak barrels can mature the whisky.

Stauning pot stills whisky
Stauning whisky distillery warehouse

Maturation

After distillilation the new spirit is diluted down to 64% alcohol and filled into oak barrels for the maturation.

From a colorless liquid with taste and aroma of alcohol and grain, the aging in charred oak barrels gives the whisky its color, complexity and richness of flavour.

Factors that affect this maturation is the percentage of alcohol, the level of charring of the oak, temperature and humidity in the warehouse, the size of the barrel and of course how long it is stored.

We use a variety of barrells for our whiskies. Peat and Heather is matured on first fill ex-bourbon barrels, and our Rye is matured in new white oak barrels that provides a much more intense color and flavour.

We also experiment with Rum-, Vermouth-, Sherry-, Port- and cherrywine-casks amongst others.

 

Bottling

Our whiskies are bottled after a minimum of 3 years of maturation.

The bottles are filled, corked and labeled. A bottle Stauning Whisky is ready to be enjoyed.

Bottling whisky to bottles

Visit our distillery on a guided tour

Experience first-hand the sound, smell and spirit of a fully operational whisky distillery. Hear the story about the Danish whisky adventure on one of our guided tours – followed by an optional whisky tasting.

See our guided distillery tours here

WHAT WE USE TO MAKE A STAUNING WHISKY

BARLEY

Barley, which is used for making Stauning Whisky is always locally grown barley. It will not always be from the same field and the same farmer. But to ensure high quality of our whisky we have to use barley of the highest quality. Since conditions vary for the farmer from year to year, the farmer’s quality of barley also vary. Therefore, we may have to get the barley delivered from different farmers from one year to the next. But it will always be local barley.

The Barley is floormaltet at the Distillery.

WATER

The water used for our whisky is local. It is pumped from the ground just a few miles from the Distillery (in Dejbjerg). It is water of superior quality.
We use the water in the malting process for soaking the grain, when mashing, for diluting when adding new make to the cask before aging and when diluting the matured whisky to the best bottle strength (of our choicce).

RYE

The Rye, which is used at Stauning Whisky is locally grown. It will not be from the same field. Since conditions vary for the farmer from year to year, the farmer’s quality of Rye also vary. But as with the barley we only use Rye of the highest quality.

We also floormalt our Rye. Floormalting the Rye is very unusual worldwide. We do it because we can and because it gives a much better flavor in the final product.

The lack of a hard shell makes the Rye much harder to work with than barley. It gets more sticky during malting and mashing than barley and we therefore had to make special conditions in our production in order to make the Rye whisky. But we definitely think it’s worth it.

YEAST

The Yeast we use is developed for making whisky. It is a dry Yeast. This yeast is producing rich, fruity, smooth aromatics, malty character with balanced ester profile and really good at keeping the smoke in the liquid when making our Peated whisky. It is good at breaking longer sugar chains and getting optimum yield. We have used the same type of Yeast from day 1.

PEAT

At “Store Bølling Sø” between Herning and Silkeborg, Klosterlund Museum and Nature Center is situated. This place is one of the only places in the country where they still cut Peat from the bogs.

Peat extraction is used as activity in the living museum.

The Peat is a particular soil type, created by the decomposition of plant material quenched by flooding / hypoxia. Peat therefore retains some of the plant parts structure.
The incomplete decomposition increases the carbon content of Peat, which is therefore suitable for fuel.

When we make a smoky Barley Malt, we use Peat during drying in the malting proces. We control the temperature and air flow very accurately to ensure the right content of phenols in the grain, which gives the characteristic smoky taste. Our Peat adds a complex smoky, rich, oily, sweet aroma to the Malt.

CASKS

At Stauning Whisky we use ex. bourbon casks, virgin american white oak casks, sherry, port and wine casks. We use from 32 liter up to 228 liter casks.
The cask maturation of whisky is one of the most influential processes that create the taste of a whisky. The time the alcohol sits in the cask during maturation is also very important. The wood of the cask adds the different complex flavours. Different casks offer different flavours.
Most of our Casks is also toasted and heavily charred before use. Toasting and charring converts the wood sugars into vanilla and caramel flavours.