Review // Stauning Peat - Jutland in a Bottle

Now that travelling is nearly impossible, I chose to explore some previously unexplored countries by buying their whisky. In this review, I’ll be talking about Stauning’s “Peat”, a single malt whisky which immediately caught my interest when the shopkeeper mentioned its ‘unique peat scents’. I think I was instantly transported to Jutland. Oh, I had fun with this one. Enjoy!

It rarely happens that I am able to taste a whisky that I am so genuinely excited about simply by experiencing just the scents. If you are in a hurry, just skip to the tasting notes. If not, I’d like to offer some background information first, to contextualize the distillery, its core values, and its expressions.

Notes on the Distillery

The Stauning distillery has humble beginnings. Its history started with 9 friends making whisky as a hobby, which started from a very simple question: “Why is nobody making Danish single malt whisky?”

Production began in 2005 in an old abattoir, owned by one of the friends. The resources were local, the stills were imported from Spain. One year later, a fateful meeting with Jim Murray occurred, which boosted the confidence of the Stauning people, as Murray stated the following: “People who love smoked whisky would kill their own mothers to get their hands on a bottle like this. This could go on to be one of the best smoked whiskies in the world if you carry on like this”.

In 2007, the distillery was moved to Stauning. In 2009, production resumed, and two years later, Stauning had their whisky on the spirits menu of Noma, one of the best restaurants in the world.

At the end of 2015, a deal was made with Diageo and Distill Ventures, resulting in an investment which will drive capacity to 900,000 litres of Stauning whisky being produced every year.

Their aim has stayed the same, however: to make the best possible whisky on-site, using locally-sourced resources, a naked fire, home-made grain-turners, and only 24 small pot stills.

For more information, please check https://www.stauningwhisky.com/story/ .

Stauning’s “Peat”

Where to start with this expression? Well, I’ll gladly copy the information that I found on the Stauning website: “The Stauning Peat is our flagship single malt whisky. The local peat brings completely unique flavours to the whisky is - nothing else out there tastes like Stauning Peat. The spirit was distilled in 2012 - 2014 and has matured in nine individual 1st Fill Maker's Mark casks ever since.“ (stauningwhiskyshop.com, my emphasis)

I’ll break up this information based on the words in bold. It will make it easier to express why this is truly an outstanding whisky.

If there is a focal point in the story of Stauning, it might as well be “local”. The focus on terroir is very noticeable in the resources that are used, as well as the story the distillery chooses to tell. Basically, all resources are locally sourced, and the full process, from malting to bottling, is done on-site:

The barley is collected from Stauning (parish), which is in Mid-Jutland. The peat is harvested by the Klosterlund museum, based on traditional methods, from local peat bogs. The water, which is of “superior quality” is sourced from the Stauning river.

Additionally, there is a heavy focus on craftsmanship. As mentioned above, everything is done on-site, using traditional methods. Stauning uses old-school direct-fired stills and practices double pot still distillation. Maturation is also done on-site, as well as the bottling.

(Stauning, if you’re reading this, I’d like to take the tour.)

Danish terroir means something, and the distillery seems to have a very open attitude towards sharing information. In a section on their website called “What we use to make a Stauning whisky”, the reader can find information about the barley, rye, peat, water, yeast, and casks that are being used. For more information check https://www.stauningwhisky.com/distillery/ .

Tasting Notes

Stauning’s “Peat” is a single malt, bottled at 48.4% ABV, and matured for at least 3 years in ex-Maker’s Mark bourbon casks, with only slightly less than 3500 bottles available.

The best selling point for this whisky, in my opinion, is in the nosing. At times, I picked up on a little chocolate, sweet floral scents (buttercups?), a freshly cut flower arrangement, heather, smoke, green countryside, sunny fields with a gentle breeze sauntering through them. A whole mental canvas, with a lonely road going from East to West in a hilly countryside, windows open, the scent of summer grain. Wow. Talk about a nice nosing impression. (I’ve been locked up too long).

Tip: take a drop of whisky, and rub it between your hands, then sniff. It is easier to pick up on the scents like that, though it obviously does not reveal everything.

Describing the sensation of nipping from the dram is difficult, but I’ll try anyway. There’s a fresh element introducing the whisky to your palate, then a little' ‘flavour ball’ is dropped in your mouth. When it breaks open, an explosion of flavour occurs.

I experienced a mouth-filling buttery flavour and texture, in tandem with slow-burning peat and gentle smokiness. There are lingering sweet notes, and the long finish is not unlike the sweet scent of cut grass that is starting to dry up in the blazing sun. That might be the best way to describe it. It’s not exactly ‘smoke’ in the way that I am used to it, but more like a hot summer day on the field. If I close my eyes, I can imagine a farmer wrapping the hay bales in plastic before transporting them. It’s been a while since I had this strong of a link with the dram that I am reviewing.

Conclusion

I highly suggest trying out this Stauning expression if you want to try out different styles of peat. As a peat-head, I am constantly looking for ‘regional' varieties’ of peat, and this terroir-focused single malt is definitely right up my alley. It is a flavour-bomb, and it does exactly what I hope for when I sample whisky: take me on a journey.

Are you ready to explore Jutland?

Photography is © Stauning Whisky Distillery