Initially, my wife Dini and I visited Stauning Whisky in August 2017 – it was our first distillery tour in Denmark and the beginning of our lasting love story with the country’s active and avid whisky scene. Back then, we still got a tour of the old distillery. Next to it, however, we already saw the construction site of the new plant, whose foundation had just been laid at that time. A year-or-so later, the building stood tall and production was shifted from the previous facility to the just-finished unit.

---

While everyone who went there raved about the beauty of the place, Dini and I only kept seeing it on photos and videos. For years, the closest we came to checking out Stauning’s all-refurbished distillery was a short VR experience we did at Man’s World fair in Hamburg in late 2019. That was nice, of course. But deep inside we were craving for more. We carried that itch around with us until recently, when – in the hot summer of 2023 – we finally jumped into our car and drove about 350 kilometers up north to do our second tour at Stauning – this time at the shiny, new production site!

---

---

With a capacity of round about 1,000,000 litres of raw alcohol per year, Stauning is currently the busiest and biggest whisky distillery in continental Europe. With this in mind, it should not come as a great surprise that the place is really impressive to visit and marvel at! Our tour, which lasted almost two hours, led us through all areas and corners of the compound, inside as well as outside. We started with a “history lesson” in the tasting room. Then we moved on to see the malting floor, the kilning rooms, the mashtuns, and the washbacks. The heart of the tour was the still room harboring a total of 24 custom-made wash stills and spirit stills from Abercrombie in Scottland. The last three stops were the warehouse, the tasting room, and finally the shop, where Dini and I took home no less than five mid-sized Distillery Editions. The first of these is already open, and the others will follow step by step.

---

Of all we saw, the cathedral-like still room left the biggest impression on us. Its architecture and set-up was really quite something! Since we visited the distillery during off-season, the short and bulgy copper stills were not in use. Most likely, the experience would have been even more spectacular if the air was loud, hot, and filled with fumes. But nevertheless, we are still very glad that we finally got to set foot into this central part of Stauning Distillery, and let our gaze wander around. And the next time we return – which will hopefully not be too long from now – we will make sure that we will also see some delish Danish whisky being made right there at this beautiful, temple-like spot!

by Tobi

---

---

Name: Stauning Distillery
Type: Whisky distillery
Address: Stauningvej 38 ; 6900 Skjern ; Denmark
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday: 10.00-16.00
More info: https://stauningwhisky.com/ (Website)

*** We booked a tour online & were
shown around as regular visitors. ***