Heavy Metal - Grave Digger

Since 2019, the limited Signature Editions by Master Distiller Mario Rudolf have set standards for whisky Made in Germany. In addition to the sensational whiskies of the Bud Spencer series, the mild and smoky whiskies of his film partner Terence Hill have been added since the end of the year. St. Kilian's cooperation with the German metal band GRAVE DIGGER opens up further avenues for impressive smoky whiskies.

Not only the colours are convincing -
"It's a cracker"

The eyes of the fans of the metal band Grave Digger light up. A bottle specially designed by St Kilian and the high-quality label with the Grave Digger logo promise a long collaboration with lead guitarist Axel Ritt and the band. In intensive collaboration with whisky maker Mario Rudolf, the rocking whisky connoisseur selected a whisky that surprises the eyes, nose and tongue with its impressively complex potential. The two worked for a long time on a multi-layered, aromatic and flavoursome blend. They were looking for the ideal recipe.

In the glass, a red gold glows with purple reflections - Mario Rudolf himself speaks of a copper colour. The small strings of pearls that form on the inner wall of the tasting glass when gently swirled announce: 'Attention, I'm strong in alcohol.' 47% vol. mark the measurement.

Indeed, when sniffing, strong youthful alcoholic notes combine with a lot of smoke and cinnamon perceptions. Restrained impressions of vanilla and other aromas contribute to the balance. Fruity notes of fruit or berries delight. Associations of dried fruit come to mind. The nose thinks of fruit sweets... The fresh, winey associations are enhanced by the reddish colour of the whisky.

The finesse of the wines combines with the grain aromas of the whisky. A broad potpourri of sensory perceptions awaits discovery, the diversity is magnificent. It inspires. The spiciness that sets in after the sweetness and latent, lingering fruitiness create a fascinatingly long mouthfeel, enveloped by not too strong, rather subtle smoky impressions.

The TUNES OF WAR is balanced, fascinates with reddish reflections in the glass and invites you to enjoy its aroma. This great whisky provides delightful pleasure and has nothing to fear from international comparisons. For a parallel tasting of smoky whiskies, a blind tasting is recommended.

The prerequisites

The basis of the whisky was a Scottish peated malt from Glenesk with a phenol density of 54 ppm, which was processed into an top-fermented whisky beer by Kilian distillers on site in Rüdenau in wooden vats during a long fermentation. The added yeast produced a bundle of fascinating fruit aromas, which are reflected in the distillate and ultimately in the final product.

Double distilled in two 6000-litre copper pot stills, a fruity, smoky new make appeared in the spirit safe, where the cut-off points did not reach into the feints. Since the cut started at around 59.5% vol., they gave the distillate a less smoky structure with characterful meaty aromas. Rather, the advantages of a traditional distillation method are very prominent. Foreshots and feints from the spirit run are repeatedly mixed with the low wines from the previous first distillation stage of the wash still. This way, no aromas or flavours are lost.

The low wines, foreshots and feints are blended in a separate container, which stores the smoky mix until the next distillation process in the spirit still. This way, the smoky distillates do not mix with the non-smoky ones and always retain their individual aroma profile.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, in terms of aromas and taste is therefore lost during distillation. "It is, in a way, our soul that returns," Master Distiller Mario Rudolf reinforces the methodical approach. His artistry in milling the peated malt, the choice of yeast during fermentation, as well as the temperature curves during distillation and the use of the dephlegmator in the lyne arm of the Spirit Still guarantee a range of distillates that mature into whiskies in 284 different cask cultures (as of December 2021). The cask filling strength is 63.5% vol.

"The Tunes of War, that's a new level now, [...]"

Axel Ritt proudly enthuses about the St. Kilian Single Malt Whisky, declared "Heavily Peated". The popular song title of Grave Digger sends a signal with an exclamation mark to their large fan base.

Kilian's Master Mind,
Mario Rudolf,
has once again achieved another masterpiece.

The experimental Franconian searched through the large and diverse treasure trove of cask cultures for his own malt whiskies that would enable an expressive variation of a new St. Kilian Single Malt. His conceptual ideas for the Grave Digger TUNES OF WAR whisky materialized in a selection of exclusively "winey" casks, to which he entrusted the smoky distillate for maturation three and a half years ago.

"Smoke and wine" were to combine, according to Iron Finger, Axel Ritt's wish. For the metal musician,

"...the cooperation between two strong brands,
the procedure...the communication was very important."

He wanted to actively engage in the genesis of the whisky himself and not just present a bottle with a retrospectively glued band logo to the fans. For over a year, there were many discussions, tastings and finally a joint end product that met the expectations of Axel Ritt and his band members:

"This is exactly what would be good for the band,
but also for St. Kilian."

What makes Tunes of War special?

First of all, such a melange recipe of 'wine' whiskies is rare on the international scene. This type of whisky will enrich the offering of specialist spirits retailers internationally and nationally in the future. With his creations, Mario Rudolf is strengthening the trend in Germany.

The recipe consisted solely of St. Kilian Single Malt whiskies, which had previously acquired their aromatic character in 225-litre premium French oak barriques. Before that, however, winemakers had aged red wines in traditional containers to give them a complex woody flavour:

• dry Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) from the Franconian wine region, more precisely, from Bürgstadt from the renowned Rudolf Fürst winery
• high-quality Merlot and Cabernet Franc wines from the Bordeaux region of Pomerol, where the famous Château Pétrus is located.

A non-pre-filled, fresh, first-class French oak barrique can cost up to €1,200 from traditional coopers.
Here are examples of French red wine barrels

Color and balance were brought into the cuvée by further St. Kilian whiskies, which in turn matured in oak barrels that had previously held a young, purple-red Ruby Port for a short period, imparting woody notes such as vanilla and spice.

For TUNES OF WAR, Master Blender Rudolf selected his own whiskies that matured for three and a half years, first in the distillery's warehouse and then in the nearby Bunker City in the Odenwald at an altitude of 440m.

"...that's three and a half years, something others can't achieve with fifteen years of maturation...it's still a mystery to me how St. Kilian manages to do that in such a comparatively short maturation period, which speaks for the high quality of the individual components...it's insane," marvels Axel Ritt.

"The result, a uniquely creamy-sweet blend of red grapes, ripe apples and juicy peaches with warming peat smoke,"

can be read on the St. Kilian website.

Only 6340 bottles of the impressively distinctive smoky Grave Digger TUNES OF WAR, Batch 1, are coming onto the market. Good to know, the whisky retained its natural colour and was not chill-filtered to preserve the aromas and taste. A handsome black Grave Digger designer carafe of 0.7 litres costs 59.90 Euros. The team bottled the whisky by hand on site at the distillery.

And it hit again. A rarity.

The Kilian smoky METAL TURF BEAST Single Malt variation with a robust 49% vol can be classified as another complete work of art from the St. Kilian manufactory.

This is a single malt that will make the ashtray faction among whisky freaks jump for joy. Impressions of ash, rubber, cardboard, soot, and minerality characterize the METAL TURF BEAST. The black beast challenges, appearing multifaceted on several levels. The search for aromas makes sniffing a sensory discovery experience. Nothing seems boring; it's a pleasure to supposedly discover new aromatic structures again and again. The addition of water – preferably distilled – opens up additional associations for individual exploration. The respective discoveries stimulate conversations within the group. Individually, while tasting, the beats of The Clans Will Rise Again can rush through the ears, thus enhancing the enjoyment of metal fans.

The Grave Digger Beast shows sustainable aromatic claws. Every sniff and every small drop surprises with new interpretations, challenging the senses. The spiciness that sets in after the sweetness and latent fruitiness create a fascinatingly long-lasting mouthfeel, enveloped by powerful plumes of smoke.

This smokiest whisky Made in Germany is a phenomenon.
It is the liquid manifesto of the new German whisky wave.

How is METAL TURF BEAST made?

The starting point was a peated malt with a phenol density of 91 ppm. As with its twin brother TUNES OF WAR, the industrial malting plant in Glenesk had malted barley in its Bobby drums for St. Kilian. It was not easy for Rudolf to obtain such a heavily peated malt from his supplier.

It took some persuasion to bring such an "ultra heavily peated malt" to Germany, as St. Kilian's partner, the malting plant belonging to the global Boortmalt group, does not normally produce malt with an extreme phenol density of up to 100 ppm.

"Okay, we'll give it a try, let's see how high we can get," was Koshir Kassie's response. His malters rose to the challenge. They were happy for the change and finally achieved a phenol density of 91 ppm in the malt.

Fortune always favours the brave. In December 2017, the first truck carrying 25 tons of Scottish malt with 91 ppm arrived at the St. Kilian distillery. To this day, the people of Rüdenau are the only ones who source such a heavily peated barley malt from Glenesk.

"Annually, we receive one, sometimes two trucks
with peated Glenesk malt of 91 to 92 ppm,"
"It's a completely different kind of smokiness than the 54 ppm variant...in terms of intensity."
Mario Rudolf happily informs.

Meanwhile, he has formed a stable friendship with Koshir Kassie, who has been promoted to Global Key Account Manager, deepened by both of them at Braubeviale in Nuremberg in 2019.

How was the METAL TURF BEAST distilled, and in what did it mature?

The distillates were double fractionated using the dephlegmator hidden in the Lyne Arm – spirit pipe. "The degree of purification, meaning the reflux, was the same as usual for the other smoky distillates." In contrast to the somewhat "dirty" distilled Turf Peak Master Distiller Edition Hynes and Rudolf, here the middle cut was not extended far into the feints. "We chose our normal procedure," explains Rudolf. Nevertheless, impressively robust grain spirits are also the result here. Per ton of peated malt, the distillers achieved 395 to 400 liters of pure alcohol. The lower separation point of the middle cut in the transition to the feints was likewise at 59.5% vol., as is common with the 54 ppm variant.

The 'cask wizard' Rudolf skillfully utilized the turbo-maturation of small casks.
He matured the Kilian whiskies in thirty-liter small oak containers that had previously held either port wine or Oloroso sherry.

What is the advantage of small casks?

Such port and sherry casks are usually up to 600 liters in size. Well, the mini-casks are specially reconstructed smaller containers from the staves of large casks by the cooperage Markus Eder in Bad Dürkheim. From the shortened staves of old former bodega butts and port pipes, the Palatinate coopers artfully crafted smaller units.

Rudolf had foresightedly acquired a larger number of these reconstructed casks for his creations in good time. Had he classically limited himself to Bourbon Barrels, as is often the case elsewhere, a METAL TURF BEAST creation simply would not have been possible... letting Kilian mature fantastically there," explains Mario. "It took four days until all samples were on my desk."

Due to the favorable ratio of filling quantity to surface area, the "turbo casks" promote an intense and faster maturation of the distillates. David F. Hynes emphasizes the effect:

“The smaller the cask, the faster the maturation.“

The interaction between the inner wall of the cask and the smoky distillate is therefore much more intense and frequent.
On average, the maturation period of the whiskies selected by Rudolf lasted three and a half years. "For the Turf Metal Beast, significantly more Oloroso-cask matured whiskies went into the vatting," informs the blender from Amorbach. Mentor David F. Hynes confirms the result of three years of storage in small cask structures:

„You get the flavours of a ten year old.“

Mario Rudolf is happy: "The smoke is wonderfully integrated... a gentle menthol sharpness unfolds." The METAL TURF BEAST presents itself "...earthy, ashy smoke with few medicinal notes, a bit of iodine is also present... and again, we have fruit here."

Axel "Ironfinger" Ritt raves:

St. Kilian's Grave Digger smoke-cracker fascinates. The spontaneous comments from tasting fans exuded enthusiasm. Therefore, it's no wonder that the smoky rarity sold out in minutes. Of the 870 bottles, supporters could only acquire one gem each.

For a 0.7 liter carafe of METAL TURF BEAST, Kilian Distillers asked the moderate price of 99.90 Euros. Of course, this variant was not colored with spirit caramel and not chill-filtered, in accordance with Kilian's high quality standards. The Kilian team bottled the Grave Digger variations on site at the distillery.

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