Hans Martin Hansgaard, Stauning Distillery, Denmark

Knock Tales Whisky Podcast with Gordon Bruce

Nordic whisky is having a moment. And in this month’s episode Gordon chats to one of its pioneers: Hans Martin Hansgaard, co-founder of Stauning Distillery.

This former teacher clubbed together with a group of friends (a butcher, helicopter pilot, doctor, several engineers and a chef) to found Denmark’s first ever single malt whisky distillery. And why not? They’d heard a radio programme about exactly how Scotch whisky is made and realised that, when it comes to the essentials - the water, the grains, the peat and the sometimes dreich climate – Denmark has it all!

Here Hans shares his fascinating story with Gordon: from devouring books on making whisky the old fashioned way to designing Stauning’s stunning ‘Nordic Noir’ distillery on Denmark’s west coast and winning awards with his first bottlings.

And while anCnoc and Stauning may be over a century apart in the timeline, there’s no difference in the ethos of these two whisky makers when it comes to their craft. It’s all about the beauty of ‘small’ and a making whiskies for the modern age that never lose touch with tradition.