Nordic Whisky #7 - Stauning Young Rye

Stauning Young Rye, NAS, 49,3 %

Today I present to you a rare gem. A Danish rye whisky! Stauning Young Rye is a product from Stauning Whisky Distillery in Skjern, Denmark (see our Nordic Distillery Map). This is a realtively young distillery, having had products for sale for about three years in Denmark. In 2013 this particular product was made available also in Norway.

The mash bill for Stauning Young Rye is 100 % rye. So not only are these crazy Danes making a rare rye, but they are doing it the hard way. No malted barley added here to ease the process. The ABV is kept at a nice 49,3 ABV, and the product is sold in 50 cl bottles.

This is a batch product, and batch sizes vary between 650 and 2500 bottles. I have tried batch 5, which was released in October 2012. The currently available batch is batch 7.

This rye can be bought at Vinmonopolet in Norway at NOK 725 (item number 544602). The product is not available in Sweden, but is readily available in Denmark (naturally) at DKK 495.

Nose (22/25): Lots of spices, honey, menthol and mint. There's a nice oak influence here as well. It is crisp, fresh, vibrant and warm. Not young or immature on the nose at all.

Taste (22/25): Cool, spicy, rich and well-rounded.

Finish (21/25): Pepper corns dominate, and there is a shy sweetness to it. I want to say the finish is a bit crisp and fresh as well, just like the nose. It has a nice sparkling (intoxicating?) feel to it as well.

Balance (22/25): Three cheers for Nordic Whisky! Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah! Go try some! How else can you tell your children that you actually got to try the Nordic whiskies as this wave of great new products established themselves on the international whisky scene?

Score (87/100)

Sláinte! - Thomas