Press Release: Celtic Castle 2022

Excellent St. Kilian bottlings also impress whisky legend Jim McEwan

Rüdenau, October 2022
From November 11th to 13th, 2022, the fifth Celtic Castle Festival took place at Thurnau Castle in Upper Franconia. The stylish ambience of the venerable castle provided the perfect setting for excellent music, culinary delights, and exquisite single malt whiskies. Thanks to the tireless efforts of organizer and Honorary St. Kilian Brand Ambassador Udo Sonntag, the Celtic Castle Festival has established itself as a firm fixture in the whisky scene. National whisky greats and international star guests alike accepted the invitation to the festival, which was actively supported by St. Kilian Distillers as one of the sponsors. Udo Sonntag succeeded in bringing not only the grand dame of whisky, Maggie Miller, and the Scottish folk musician and songwriter, Robin Laing, but also the living whisky legend Jim McEwan to Thurnau; true to the festival's motto: "Whisky brings people together". The organizer was overwhelmed by the success of the three-day event. "It's incredible who all found their way to Celtic Castle. I would never have dreamed of it when we started a few years ago. I am particularly pleased that Jim is ending his incredible world career in the very place where our collaboration and, above all, our friendship began," rejoiced Udo Sonntag, who also wrote Jim McEwan's biography.

Exceptional Tastings

One of the highlights was an exclusive St. Kilian tasting, where Master Distiller Mario Rudolf presented the enormous variety of casks from Germany's largest whisky distillery to an enthusiastic audience. Jim McEwan was also extremely impressed by the high quality of the St. Kilian Single Malt Whiskys presented and engaged in an intensive exchange with Mario Rudolf. The whisky legend was particularly taken with the Signature Edition Ten, which he described as an excellently produced whisky and highly praised the Master Distiller for his great dedication and skill. "The incredibly positive feedback on our whiskies from Jim McEwan, Robin Laing and the participants simply leaves the entire St. Kilian team and me personally speechless and proud. As a young distillery and for me as a young Master Distiller, there is simply gratitude that we were allowed to be part of this outstanding event," Mario Rudolf said, overwhelmed. A joint tasting with exceptional bottlings and Jim's very last, celebrated Highland Toast, delivered in his inimitable way, concluded a very successful whisky festival, where St. Kilian Distillers received great national and international recognition.

Celtic Castle Edition

The bottling specially selected for the festival by Udo Sonntag was made from a carefully composed mixture of three different malt varieties. In addition to Munich malt and Caramünch®, heavily peated barley malt from the Scottish Highlands with 54 ppm was used. The smoky spirit was then allowed to mature for over four years in a 300-liter ex-Madeira sweet wine cask. In accordance with the high quality standards at St. Kilian Distillers, this full maturation is neither chill-filtered nor colored. The brightly amber-colored single malt, bottled at a natural cask strength of 62.4% vol., presents itself with a voluminous sweetness of grape must, baked apple, and grilled peaches, garnished with a fine oak spice and harmoniously integrated, warming smoke. The Celtic Castle Edition is strictly limited. A total of only 555 bottles in the iconic still shape were bottled. This unique festival bottling is now available in the St. Kilian Distillers online shop and on site at the distillery in Rüdenau.

Tasting Notes: Celtic Castle Edition

APPEARANCE
Bright amber

Aroma
Mild peat smoke envelops a voluminous potpourri of baked apples, ripe peaches and sweet grape must, refined with a subtle oak spice and subtle ash notes.

Taste
An aromatic fireworks of sweet grape notes, grilled peaches, and delicious baked apple aromas, underlined with fine spicy oak and enveloped by warming, mild peat smoke.

Finish
Long-lasting and wonderfully warming with creamy grape sweetness and baked pome fruit, accompanied by the finest smoke and subtly dry ash notes.

Alcohol content:
62.4% vol

RRP:
€ 69.90 (0.5l)

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About St. Kilian Distillers GmbH

Germany's largest whisky distillery, located in Rüdenau near Miltenberg am Main in Lower Franconia, produces top-class whisky that has been awarded numerous gold medals at the most renowned whisky competitions around the globe. In addition, awards such as "Distillery of the Year" and "Whisky of the Year" attest to the international top level that the distillery, founded only in 2012 by investment banker Andreas Thümmler and thus still young, has now reached with its whiskies. St. Kilian Distillers supports the responsible consumption of alcohol, about which you can find information at https://www.massvoll-geniessen.de/. Further information about the company and its portfolio can be found at stkdev.lichtschreiber.de.

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