Seven at one blow

On the way to Single Malt Whisky: Our "The Spirit of St. Kilian" Series

Good things come to those who wait: Our first Whisky Signature Edition "One" has now left the casks after three years of maturation. Three years in which we experimented, creatively blended, and indulged our taste buds to mature the best casks and ingredients into our Single Malt Whisky. A waiting period that applies to all whiskies. Can it be shortened in terms of taste? Absolutely! That's why we created our "The Spirit of St. Kilian" series: Not yet three years old, but all the more exciting.

"The Spirit of St. Kilian"

For this series, we took the spirit from the casks after 8 to 27 months. The result: Cask-aged spirit that perfectly showcases the future diversity of our whisky's flavor. For this reason, our distillate matured in different casks right from the start. And we? We were able to see how the spirit behaved in very different casks, what effects the wood had on later cask combinations, and most importantly: how the taste was received by our fans. We designed the path to our first Single Malt Whisky to be complex and surprising. And you can review and experience it here.

Batch 1 – Matured in Garrison Brothers' American Quarter Cask

We let our Batch 1 mature for 18 months, for which we combined the best of all whisky cultures: Pilsner brewing malt from Weyermann in Germany and special yeast from Scotland. We distilled in our two 6,000-liter copper pot stills from the traditional Scottish manufacturer Forsyths. As for cask selection, for the launch of "The Spirit of St. Kilian" series, we were looking for a very special Bourbon. We found it in the USA, more precisely in a Texan craft distillery. Dan Garrison, Senior Chef of Garrison Brothers Distillers, provided us with some of his American Quarter Casks. In these 50 to 55-liter former Bourbon whisky casks, the first edition of our "Spirit of St. Kilian" matured. The special thing: The malt spirit matures two to three times faster in these small casks than in standard 200-liter barrels. Thus, our first bottling of "Spirit of St. Kilian" was already comparable to a three to five-year-old NAS whisky. We selected only six casks for our first spirit, so that enough remained for our very first whisky. The result: an intensely fruity-sweet and complex spirit, which we distilled in April 2016. It sold out in a very short time. And we? Highly motivated to continue.

Batch 2 – Matured in three different oak casks

Our Master Distiller Mario Rudolf selected new, unseasoned 190-liter casks for the second batch. Made from American white oak and European oak, they gave Batch 2 a robust sweetness and spicy notes. From three of our casks, after 15 months of maturation in 2016, we bottled an amber-colored spirit with a mild, sweet taste of honey, herbs, and fruits. Our traditional equipment was fully utilized: our Pot Stills were complemented by a so-called "Reflux-Condenser." Extremely rarely built by Forsyths, this is a cooling coil in the Lyne Arm. In other words: the pipe at the top of the still. All vapors that condense before reaching the condenser at the end of the Lyne Arm flow back into the still and are distilled again. This reflux has a decisive influence on our spirits. A strong reflux, for example, resulted in a softer new make - as we used for "The Spirit of St. Kilian."

Batch 3 – our fruitiest spirit

We took a flavorful journey to the Caribbean with our third bottling: Batch 3 matured in former rum casks from Jamaica. Originally, these American white oak casks had a capacity of 190 liters. We meticulously handcrafted them into small 30-liter casks. In these, our distillate matured approximately three times faster and, after just eight months, could rival the complexity of spirits aged for years in large casks. The reason for this is the small volume relative to the surface area in the cask. This means that in small casks, the contact between the spirit and the wood intensifies. We filled three such ex-rum casks for the third edition of the Spirit of St. Kilian. The result? A summery, fresh spirit that smells of sweet Caribbean fruits and exudes light, mild oak notes on the palate - and sold out in the shortest time.

Batch 4 – now peat comes into play

With "The Peat Marriage" – our fourth batch – the name said it all: For the first time, we produced a smoky, cask-aged malt spirit. This matured for at least 16 months in seven different oak casks. Does that remind you of whiskies from the island of Islay? That is intentional. But: We have, of course, given the dram our own signature. For this, we filled two former whisky casks from an Islay distillery with our non-smoky, mild-fruity, and award-winning White Dog. To create Batch 4 – a smoky and at the same time fruity-malty spirit – we relied on two different "flavor sources" and blended them into our "The Peat Marriage": For this, we distilled non-smoky malt into our White Dog. On the other hand, we distilled malt dried over a peat fire into our Turf Dog. The smoky Turf Dog then matured in a Virgin Oak Cask – a 190-liter cask made of American white oak. This type of cask infused the spirit with strong wood and spice notes. Furthermore, the Turf Dog was stored in four former small Bourbon casks from the Texan Garrison Brothers Distillery. Since the spirit matured faster in the 55-liter Quarter Casks than in the larger ones, we obtained harmonious whisky aromas of vanilla, honey, and marzipan in a comparatively short time - paired with concentrated peat notes.

Batch 5 – late summer in a glass

Aged for more than 27 months in former Italian Amarone wine casks, our Batch 5 tastes of fruity plums, fresh orchard apples, and a hint of marzipan. We distilled our spirit in April 2016. The Amarone casks in which Batch 5 was stored come from Claudio Lenotti from the North Italian wine region Valpolicella. We share the same philosophy regarding quality with him. And what is special about Amarone? Since the grapes are dried for several months after harvesting, they lose up to half of their weight and thus develop an incredible concentration of sugar and flavor. What we were able to bottle in spring three years ago was therefore a delicious mixture of fruits, red wine notes, and marzipan in the glass, reminiscent of mild late summer evenings.

Batch 6 – bold smoke meets delicate sweetness

Under the motto "Bourbon meets Sauternes," we bottled Batch 6 of our "Spirit of St. Kilian." It matured for at least 21 months in three different oak casks. As the name of the bottling already suggests, the underlying cask combination consists of ex-Bourbon casks from the USA and French Sauternes white wine casks. The foundation of the malt spirit is our award-winning Turf Dog. But for this creation, we added another layer (of peat): For our second bottling with a characterful peat note, we used our "Turf Beast" for the first time – a spirit made from heavily peated Highland malt with a smoke content of 92 ppm. To create a broader aroma spectrum, the peated components matured in different American Bourbon casks: three classic ex-Bourbon barrels from Kentucky with a capacity of 195 liters and a 55-liter Quarter Cask from Garrison Brothers. The latter extracts even stronger vanilla and honey notes from the spirit. The 225-liter Sauternes white wine casks, in turn, gave Batch 6 fruity-sweet aromas that perfectly complement the peaty basic character of our spirit.

Batch 7 – by fans for fans

We named Batch 7 "Lucky Seven." Because: The bottling is a joint creation with lucky fans who got to be Master Distillers for a day. In collaboration with five St. Kilian friends, Master Distiller Mario Rudolf and Patrick "Pat" Hock selected a combination of Bourbon, Sherry, and Virgin Oak Casks. This resulted in a rather complex malt spirit with fruity, full-bodied aromas of ripe apples and sweet vanilla, butterscotch, and spicy oak. The selected American Bourbon casks provided the flavor base, imparting typical notes of vanilla and butterscotch to the spirit. The sherry casks from Spain provided ripe fruit aromas with hints of sultanas and cocoa. The spicy wood notes come from the Virgin Oak Casks made of fresh American white oak. In a nutshell: Our Batch 7 is a pleasantly fruity-spicy spirit with a lot of character.