Press release: Judas Priest Whisky

Post JP LimitedHeavyMetalEdition 1080x1080

St. Kilian Distillers dedicates the next Heavy Metal Edition to the legendary band Judas Priest

With the single malt bottlings "50 Heavy Metal Years" and "Angel of Retribution", Germany's largest whisky distillery celebrates 50 years of band history with Judas Priest

Ruedenau, September 2022
One of the biggest bands in heavy metal, Judas Priest, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Few metal bands have built such a lasting name for themselves in the scene as the Brits. They were the first to exclusively wear leather and studs, coining a look that was embraced by metal fans around the world. Accompanied by numerous awards, Judas Priest's success continued steadily since the seventies. In 2018, they reached an absolute peak of their metal career with their legendary album "Firepower". Postponed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Judas Priest will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2022 and thrill fans around the world with a sensational concert tour. Reason enough for St. Kilian Distillers to dedicate another Heavy Metal Edition with two exceptional bottlings to the legendary band from Birmingham. Limited to 12,300 bottles, the "50 Heavy Metal Years" Anniversary Edition got its unique character from barley malt gently smoked over beechwood fires. The four-year-old, smoky single malt was largely aged in ex-bourbon casks and was blended with whiskies from ex-rye and ex-brandy Jerez casks, which contribute a creamy fruit sweetness to the wood smoke. For the strictly limited "Angel of Retribution" edition, on the other hand, Ultra Heavily Peated barley malt with 91 "parts per million" (ppm) was used, which comes directly from the Scottish Highlands and embodies heavy metal in its purest form. A total of 950 bottles were bottled of this four-year-old single malt, which received a unique full maturation in French 300-liter ex-Pineau des Charentes casks and offers a true flavor explosion of peat smoke, fruit and spice. These two special Judas Priest Heavy Metal editions will be available from September 25, 2022.

Post JP LimitedHeavyMetalEdition 2bottles 1080x1080
Limited bottlings

Heavy metal suits St. Kilian

Andreas Thümmler has been a fan of the British heavy metal band since his youth. "Songs like Turbo Lover, Metal Gods and Breaking the Law remain unforgotten for me even after 50 years. That's why it was immediately clear that there had to be a St. Kilian Heavy Metal Edition to mark Judas Priest's 50th anniversary," says the founder and owner of St. Kilian Distillers. So Thümmler didn't hesitate for a minute when Global Merchandising Services Limited, one of the world's largest exploiters of merchandising rights in the music and entertainment industry, approached St. Kilian Distillers about licensing Judas Priest whisky. Following the great success of the first St. Kilian Heavy Metal Edition, Grave Digger, metal fans and whisky enthusiasts alike are once again getting their money's worth in this way.

Use of smoked and peated malt

The basis for the "50 Heavy Metal Years" Anniversary Edition is special barley malt from Germany, which gets its distinctive aroma from gentle kilning over beechwood smoke. "With this lightly smoked malt, we get a subtle but noticeable smoky note in the whiskey. In addition, the brandy casks used from Jerez contribute a creamy, sweet fruitiness as an ideal complement to the bourbon and rye notes," explains Master Distiller Mario Rudolf. Inspired by the anthem "Lochness" from the Judas Priest album "Angel of Retribution," the extremely heavily peated heavy metal bottling of the same name was created. This was produced with Ultra Heavily Peated barley malt sourced directly from Scotland. "The fruity aromas, the unique taste as well as the high quality of the Pineau des Charentes barrels completely convinced us and tipped the scales in favor of this limited edition," Rudolf reveals.

Sales launch on September 25, 2022

Both Judas Priest single malt heavy metal whiskies are neither colored nor chill-filtered and are bottled in the 0.7-liter bottle with black label in metal look used exclusively for the metal series. The RRP for consumers is €59.90 for the mildly smoky "50 Heavy Metal Years" and €99.90 for the ultra-heavily peated "Angel of Retribution" single malt whisky. The release date for both editions is Sunday, September 25, 2022 starting at 7:00 p.m. in the St. Kilian online store. While the 50th anniversary edition will later also be available for sale at many specialist retailers, the "Angel of Retribution" edition will be available exclusively from St. Kilian online and - subject to sufficient availability - also in the store in the visitor distillery. In addition, the "50 Heavy Metal Years" Anniversary Edition will be presented live from the stillhouse of Germany's largest whisky distillery - along with many other new releases - on Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m., as part of the big online whisky tasting event and will be tasted together with the participants. More information about the online whisky tasting at stkdev.lichtschreiber.de.

Tasting Notes: Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years

Judas Priest 50 Heavy Metal Years
Judas Priest 50 Heavy Metal Years

APPEARANCE
Light Gold

Aroma
Delightfully fruity notes of juicy apricot, underpinned by sweet vanilla, a hint of barley malt and finely spicy oak, are perfectly enveloped by warming wood smoke notes.

Taste
Creamy-sweet and immediately pleasantly warming with grilled apricot, vanilla cream and malty sweetness accompanied by a subtle peppery note with a touch of oak spice and dry wood smoke.

Aftertaste
Pleasantly warming with creamy light fruit, roasted malt as well as dry ash notes and a fine spicy oak structure that linger long.

Alcohol content:
47 % vol

RRP:
€ 59,90 (0,5l)

Tasting Notes: Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution

Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution
Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution

LOOK
Amber

Aroma
Intense warming peat smoke in harmony with sweet fruit notes of yellow plums and red grape jelly, accompanied by ash notes, some soot and spicy oak with menthol in the background.

Taste
The velvety fruit sweetness of juicy oranges and yellow plums combines with spicy oak, white pepper and fine marzipan in an all-enveloping peat smoke with a fine ash note to create a true flavor explosion.

Aftertaste
The creamy-spicy melange of fruit jam and oak tannins lingers long with the pleasantly warming peat smoke, dry ash notes and a hint of almonds.

Alcohol content:
49 % vol

RRP:
€ 99,90 (0,5l)


About Judas Priest

Judas Priest from Birmingham are considered one of the biggest and most influential bands in heavy metal. Originally founded as a blues band in 1969, Judas Priest turned to heavy metal from the mid-1970s. With numerous albums and hits such as "Breaking The Law", "Living After Midnight" or "Painkiller", they have been leaving their unmistakable mark on the metal music scene for 50 years now and reached an absolute peak in their metal career with their legendary album "Firepower" in 2018. This year Judas Priest was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and awarded the "Musical Excellence Award". For their 50th anniversary, a limited edition box set with all official live and studio albums as well as 13 previously unreleased CDs was released in 2021 from the band's vast archives. Concerts are planned for 2022/2023 in Germany, Spain, the USA, Scotland, Finland, Sweden and Italy, among other countries. For more information, visit www.judaspriest.com.

About Global Merchandising Services Limited

Global Merchandising Services Limited is one of the world's largest exploiters of merchandising rights in the music and entertainment industry. The company develops unique and innovative international merchandising programs and holds licenses from a wide range of internationally successful individual artists, music bands as well as entertainment events. Led by Barry Drinkwater, founder and executive chairman, and with offices in London and Los Angeles, California, Global Merchandising Services Limited's roster includes music groups such as One Direction, Judas Priest, Motörhead and Iron Maiden to characters and brands such as The Emoji Company, Capcom, as well as entertainment brands such as Universal's "Jurassic World" and Rovio's "Angry Birds."

About St. Kilian Distillers GmbH

Germany's largest whiskey distillery, based in the Lower Franconian town of Rüdenau near Miltenberg am Main, produces top-class whiskey that has been awarded numerous gold medals at the most prestigious whiskey competitions around the globe. In addition, awards such as "Distillery of the Year" and "Whisky of the Year" also testify to the top international level at which the distillery, which was only founded in 2012 by investment banker Andreas Thümmler and is therefore still young, is now operating with its whiskies. St. Kilian Distillers supports the responsible use of alcohol, about which you can find out more at https://www.massvoll-geniessen.de/. For more information on the company and portfolio, visit stkdev.lichtschreiber.de.


To top
WordPress Cookie Plugin by Real Cookie Banner