C - like Cask Strength
What does the term cask strength mean?
Cask strength is an English term and literally means cask strength.
What is meant by cask strength?
If a whisky is bottled at cask strength, this means that the matured spirit has not been diluted with deionized water after the cask has been emptied and before bottling. Cask strength is therefore the alcohol strength (the alcohol content) at which the whisky comes from the cask into the bottle.
Does Cask Strength only refer to one barrel?
No. A whisky that is bottled at cask strength can come from either one, two or more casks. The number does not matter. The only difference is that no water may be added before the whisky is bottled.
Does the designation Cask Strength have to be stated on the label?
No. This information does not have to appear on the label of a whisky bottle. However, it makes perfect sense for the manufacturer to let the consumer know that the content has the alcohol concentration that it has naturally obtained after years of maturation.
What is the alcohol content of a cask strength whisky?
This varies greatly. Cask strength whiskies usually have a relatively high alcohol content, which can be anywhere between 55 and 65% by volume. However, there are also whiskies, especially if they have matured over a very long period of several decades in one or more casks, which already have a low alcohol content of between 40% and 45% by volume when undiluted.
Where does the variation in the alcohol content of cask strength whiskies come from?
This depends on the angels' share. This is the proportion of the liquid content that escapes from the maturation cask over time through evaporation. Depending on the prevailing temperature, humidity and other conditions in the warehouse, relatively more alcohol than water can escape from such a cask through evaporation during the maturation of the whisky. In this way, the alcohol content in the whisky decreases during cask maturation. However, there are also whiskies that increase in alcohol strength, as proportionally more water than alcohol evaporates during the cask maturation process. This is particularly the case in warm and dry regions.
What is the advantage for the consumer of buying whisky at cask strength?
One advantage for the consumer is that you can play around with the addition of a few drops of water to a cask strength whisky in the glass, allowing you to experience the change in flavor as the alcohol content decreases. This is because the addition of water releases different aromas, masks them or pushes them into the background, so that the whisky changes permanently. This can be very exciting. In addition, the connoisseur simply gets more "whisky for his money" with a whisky bottled at cask strength - compared to a bottling diluted to 40 percent by volume - and that is certainly a bonus that should not be ignored.
What is the advantage for the distillery of bottling a whisky at cask strength?
In addition to whisky at drinking strength (usually 40%, 43% or 46%), it makes perfect sense for a distillery to have at least one cask strength bottling in its portfolio. This is because cask strength whisky offers pure taste: unadulterated, undiluted and not chill-filtered. This can be extremely exciting for single cask bottlings, as each cask reflects its individual character in the whisky and can be quite different from the contents of an adjacent sister cask, sometimes even significantly so.
Which whiskies are bottled in cask strength at St. Kilian?
Our handfilled single malt whiskies, which are only available on site in the distillery store in Rüdenau, are cask strength whiskies. Some other single cask or special bottlings are also bottled undiluted. Our Signature Editions, on the other hand, are mostly single malt whiskies that are bottled at drinking strength (at least 46%) or at a higher drinking strength. In some cases, lowering the cask strength with water by just a few percentage points can be enough to achieve the desired flavor profile for the whisky, which we and hopefully our fans like.