The Making of Signature Edition EIGHT
Have you ever wondered what happens before a bottle of single malt is on the shelf at your local retailer? I recently got the answer to that question by chance when I was selecting a cask for the soon to be released Whiskyfolks bottling at the St. Kilian distillery. For this, Master Distiller Mario Rudolf sat with me over various cask samples and we got to talking about the fact that he is not only responsible for the production of the raw spirit, but also for the composition of the St. Kilian whiskies. "In fact, I'm putting together a new bottling right now," Mario said almost casually. After this sentence, my visit took a completely different course. Mario gave deep insights into his work - a composition in eight parts.
Part 1 - Kick-off
"That Tuesday I was sitting at my desk going through the production planning for the next week. Suddenly, St. Kilian founder and owner Andi Thümmler and sales manager Kai Bentlage were standing in the doorway. They said that the demand for the signature
Seven was so great - the Seven had not even been on the market for a fortnight - and we already had to start thinking about the next bottling," Mario recalls.
"In these considerations, the first key question is: 'smoky or mild'? Since the previous bottlings Signature Six and Seven were both mild, i.e. without smoke and peat, the decision fell on smoky. Then it's a matter of the general framework: the desired number of bottles and the alcohol strength. With the Signature Eight, St. Kilian will be present on the Chinese market for the first time. Since the "8" is the lucky number in China, the batch size of 8888 bottles at an alcohol strength of 53.8% was adopted relatively quickly."
Part 2 - Composition
From then on, Mario's thoughts rotated around the requirements, the available casks and the latest bottlings, from which the "Eight" should naturally stand out. In the process, Mario can draw on a seemingly inexhaustible number of different barrels and is pleased: "We currently have over 250 different types of barrels in our warehouses. That is, of course, an insanely great reservoir for exciting bottlings." But how does Mario get structure into this process?
"A signature bottling basically has three components. The base, which can often make up between 60-80% of a bottling, the body with about 15-35% and a top note, which is usually in the single-digit percentage range. For the Signature Eight, I had opted for a base of ex-Rye casks from the USA. They
bring a special spiciness that I wanted to round off with another type of wood. I was also looking for an exciting top note. Ex-bourbon barrels, Palatinate or Hungarian oak, Virgin Oak from the USA as well as acacia or chestnut came into question for this."
Part 3 - Sampling
"With this initial selection of barrel types, I then combed through my inventory and compiled a list with barrel number, storage location and barrel type for sampling. Based on the required number of bottles and the alcohol strength of the bottling, I then calculate the necessary quantity of barrels. This time, around 130 barrels were shortlisted.
However, very few barrels are stored in the distillery itself, so we drive to "Bunker City", a former NATO ammunition depot about 20 minutes away, to take samples. We store about 600 barrels at a time there in what are now 11 bunkers, which have a very constant climate and allow our St. Kilian to mature fantastically there," Mario explains. "It took four days until all the samples were on my desk."
Part 4 - Condensing
Samples upon samples now stand in Mario's office. "With smelling samples, I get a first overview and do a pre-sorting. I put the barrels that convince me immediately in the back. The barrels sorted to the front are given the opportunity to convince me over the next few days. I then mix a first blend from the samples in the back. I let this rest over the weekend and tasted it on the following Monday. Then, over the next few days, I further adjusted the blend, let it sit, tasted it and adjusted it again," Mario explains his procedure.
"That is always a very exciting step. Because apart from the special task of composing the Signature Eight, I get a very good feeling for the maturation of our whisky in the different types of wood and a corresponding overview of our cask stock."
Part 5 - Find mix
Today I am sitting in the office of Mario Rudolf, who has just told me the story of how the Signature Eight came into being and is now sharing his final findings: "The experiences of the past few days have prompted me to adjust the basic idea of the composition. I took out the Hungarian oak completely and reduced the proportion of ex-rye casks to 43%. The base is supplemented by 27% ex-bourbon casks. I use the small casks (20 to 38 litres) of the Kings County Distillery - in which their smoky raw spirit was stored - and the 50l casks of the Texan Garrison Brothers Distillery, which I like very much. For the body I added Rioja casks - they bring fruitiness and freshness - new (19%) and the popular Palatinate oak with 9%. For the top notes (2%), acacia barrels are responsible, contributing a gentle elegant bitterness paired with deep wood tones reminiscent of dark cherries. Smokiness is also taken care of, as the mashbills used yield 54ppm of phenols in the malt before processing."
Mario now sets about calculating the proportions. With a highly accurate mechanical laboratory pipette, he prepares the new 100ml sample and reduces it to the desired alcohol strength of 53.8%. The impression in the nose and mouth is excellent, even so soon after mixing. Mario's eyes sparkle and he says with a smile, "I think this is it!"
Part 6 - Final Tasting
If 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating', then for the whisky: 'the proof of the whisky is in the tasting'. Andi Thümmler, Andreas Kreser (Marketing Manager) and Zoltan Fodi (Head Distiller) gather in Mario's office on this day. Smell, taste and body are convincing during the tasting and indeed the decision for this composition is made quickly. "If the decision took longer, then something would usually be missing. After all, the whisky has to convince us just as well as it has to convince our fans," says Andi Thümmler, who sees the next gold medal at a Spirit Competition within reach. "An award is of course always our goal. It underlines our striving for quality and taste."
Part 7 - Bottling
"In the end, we put together the St. Kilian Signature Eight from 41 barrels. The number of casks is correspondingly high due to the small Kings County and Garrison Brothers casks," Mario reports. "They were moved out of various bunkers in Hainhaus, transported to the distillery and emptied. This is an elaborate job that took two days. In the tank, the whisky was now filtered, blended and reduced to the desired alcohol strength of 53.8% within one day. Then we like to give the whisky - as in this case - several weeks to rest so that the different barrels can combine in terms of taste. Only then was the St. Kilian Signature Eight bottled over a further three days in our typical pot still bottle."
Part 8 - Sales launch
The online tasting will take place in front of a large crowd, almost 1000 tasting sets have been sent out to St. Kilian fans. The starting signal will be given punctually at 7 pm. The broadcast will take place from the heart of the distillery. Sitting in front of the two Scottish Forsyths Pot Stills are Andi Thümmler, Mario Rudolf and special guest David F. Hynes.
David is already an Irish Master Distiller legend in his own lifetime. Due to his friendship with Andi Thümmler, he was significantly involved in the creation of St. Kilian, has acted as a mentor for the distillery ever since and exchanges ideas intensively with Mario Rudolf in particular.
During the tasting, he repeatedly shows his enthusiasm for Mario's work not only in the production, but also decidedly in the composition - the blending - of the St. Kilian Signature bottlings. The latter always present a very special and creative cask mix. That's why Mario is ennobled as the 'Whisky Wizard of Wood' by David this evening.
"A very good whisky," says David, "is characterised by the balance of its flavour components." During the tasting, he attests the St. Kilian Signature Eight a "great balance" - "legendary" praise for Mario's composition. So on day 88 after the kick-off, the St. Kilian Signature Eight has now made it into the glasses of its fans. Now it is up to them how long it will take Mario to compose the Signature Ten.
Signature Edition Nine
Based on bourbon casks, Mario had three ideas: a pure ex-bourbon cask bottling, a mashbill mix (whisky made from different malt recipes, of which St. Kilian has used 18 different ones so far) and a bottling dominated in taste by sauternes casks (French sweet wine).
The final tasting and thus the decision for the Sauternes-based bottling was already made on 9.8. For this, 59 barrels were removed from storage almost at the same time as those for the Signature Eight, blended and bottled a few days before the 'Eight'. They yielded 7500 bottles with an alcohol strength of 55.3%. The choice fell on a base (62%) of ex-bourbon casks (52 ex-Garrison Brothers 50l casks), a body with Sauternes casks (27%) and a - with 11% - relatively large top note of Palatinate oak.
Master Distiller David Hynes was enthusiastic about the balance during the tasting: "The vanilla from the bourbon casks, the grapes from the sauternes casks and the spiciness of the virgin oak casks leave room for each other and are perceived very clearly and balanced in the nose and mouth. Mario does fantastic things with a wide variety of cask types and I am sure that with St. Kilian he will make a significant mark on the international name of German whisky."