Airport tasting Nuremberg - everything duty free!
A tasting with menu and whiskies from the duty-free at Albrecht Dürer Airport
By Bernhard Rems, Managing Director Whiskyexperts www.whiskyexperts.net
Nuremberg, April 2023
After a pandemic-related break, an airport tasting finally took place again at Albrecht Dürer Airport Nuremberg on April 23, 2023, after it could previously only be held online. The special feature of this tasting: All whiskies presented in the tasting come from the duty free and can officially only be purchased there.
This time there were officially six participating whiskies, which were served with a 3-course menu, and in addition there was a seventh whisky for the more than 120 guests, which was poured after the official part. And: St. Kilian was also represented as number eight, so to speak, as a "local hero" - Andreas Kreser, who came especially from Limburg to Nuremberg, served whiskies and liqueurs from the largest German whisky distillery from Rüdenau at a stand.
The whisky-interested guests gathered in the late afternoon in the hall of the Mövenpick restaurant at the airport, with a wonderful view of the apron and taxiway.
After the welcome by the head of the airport's press & public relations department, Christian Albrecht, Michael Gradl, whisky veteran from Nuremberg, moderated the evening between culinary and whisky enjoyment.
The following whiskies were tasted:
- The Kurayoshi 8yo Pure Malt Whisky
- Talisker Surge
- Caperdonich 18yo peated
- Macallan Terra
- Dalmore The Quartet
- Ardbeg Smoketrails
- St. Kilian Signature Edition THIRTEEN
The tasting was concluded with the St. Kilian Signature Edition THIRTEENwhich showed that it is possible to produce powerful aromas with a combination of full maturations from different types of wood. Barrels of Palatinate and Hungarian oak, wild robinia (false acacia), chestnut and cherry were used - the distillate was obtained from peated barley (54ppm). Nevertheless, the THIRTEEN is not a smoke hammer, the flavors are clearly in the foreground at the impression - and the more than 53% alcohol by volume do the rest to make the St. Kilian Signature Edition THIRTEEN a pleasure that met with much approval on this evening.
But the enjoyment was not over with the end of the official part - afterwards, in the foyer, there was still the Big Peat Duty Free Edition to taste, a typical Big Peat with a smoky and charcoal focus and a lot of bourbon barrel influence. And also at St. Kilian, one could still try one or the other bottling.
The evening was unanimously seen as a great success, and plans are being made to repeat the event in the fall should there be enough new bottlings then.
Whiskies that you can not otherwise taste so concentrated in one place, a unique location, good food and good entertainment - with this mixture, the follow-up events should have no problem to be sold out quickly again.