ST. KILIAN DISTILLERS DEDICATES THE LATEST HEAVY
METAL EDITION TO THE LEGENDARY BAND JUDAS PRIEST
Press release by St. Kilian Distillers from 23 September 2020
WIX Software does not support
automatic translation
https://translate.google.de for translation
With these single malt bottlings
"50 Heavy Metal Years" and "Angel of Retribution",
Germany's largest whisky distillery is celebrating
50 years of band history with Judas Priest
"One of heavy metal's greatest bands, 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 in 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 all over 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.
The "50 Heavy Metal Years" Anniversary Edition, limited to 12,300 bottles, got its unique character from barley malt that was gently smoked over beechwood fires.
The four-year-old, smoky single malt was largely matured in former 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 distilled, which came 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-litre ex-Pineau des Charentes casks and offers a true taste explosion of peat smoke, fruit and spice.
These two special Judas Priest Heavy Metal editions will be available from 25 September 2022.
HEAVY METAL GOES WELL WITH 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 still remain unforgettable for me even after 50 years.
Therefore, it was immediately clear that there had to be a St. Kilian Heavy Metal Edition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Judas Priest."
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.
After the great success of the first St. Kilian Heavy Metal Edition, Grave Digger, metal fans and whisky enthusiasts alike will once again get their money's worth.
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 unmistakable aroma from gentle kilning over beechwood smoke.
"With this lightly smoked malt, we get a fine but noticeable smoky note in the whisky.
In addition, the brandy casks from Jerez used contribute a creamy-sweet fruitiness as an ideal complement to the bourbon and rye notes",
explains Master Distiller Mario Rudolf.
Inspired by the hymn "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, which is sourced directly from Scotland.
"The fruity aromas, the unique taste as well as the high quality of the Pineau des Charentes casks convinced us completely and were the deciding factors for this limited edition.
and tipped the scales in favour of this limited edition",
Rudolf reveals.
SALES START ON 25 SEPTEMBER 2022
Both Judas Priest Single Malt Heavy Metal Whiskies are neither coloured nor chill-filtered and are bottled in the 0.7-litre bottle used exclusively for the Metal series with a black label in metal look.
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,
25 September 2022
from 19:00 in the St. Kilian online shop.
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 at St. Kilian online and - subject to sufficient availability - also in the shop 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, 15 October at 7:00 p.m. as part of the big online whisky tasting and will be tasted together with the participants.
For more information on the online whisky tasting, visit www.stkiliandistillers.com.
TASTING NOTES
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 spiced 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
Warming comfortably with creamy light fruit, roasted malt as well as dry ash notes and a fine spicy oak structure that lingers for a long time.
Alcohol content:
47% abv
RRP: € 59,90 (0,7l)
JUDAS PRIEST - ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION
Appearance
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 fine ash notes to create a true taste explosion.
Aftertaste
The creamy, spicy melange of fruit jam and oak tannins lingers long with the comforting warming peat smoke, dry ash notes as well as a hint of almonds.
Alcohol content:
49% abv
RRP: € 99,90 (0,7l)
ABOUT JUDAS PRIEST
Judas Priest from Birmingham are considered one of the biggest and most influential bands in heavy metal. Originally formed 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 left 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 were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and awarded the "Musical Excellence Award".
To mark their 50th anniversary, a limited edition box set containing all official live and studio albums plus 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 programmes and holds licences 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 whisky distillery, based in the Lower Franconian town of Rüdenau near Miltenberg am Main, produces top-class whisky that has won numerous gold medals at the most prestigious whisky competitions around the globe.
In addition, awards such as "Distillery of the Year" and "Whisky of the Year" testify to the international top level at which the still young distillery, founded in 2012 by the investment banker Andreas Thümmler, now operates with its whiskies. St. Kilian Distillers supports the responsible use of alcohol, which you can find out more about at https://www.massvoll-geniessen.de/.
For more information on the company and portfolio, visit www.stkiliandistillers.com."
End of press release
Judas Priest?
Pineau de Charentes, what is it?
At St. Kilian Distillery, there are no so-called finishes or double maturations as it is widely practised in the whisky industry at low cost.
Master Blender Mario Rudolf prefers exclusively a full maturation of Kilian Spirits. This method is more costly, but allows the innovative distiller to select and integrate whiskies in his assemblage that create surprisingly complex aroma and flavour profiles.
This selective and additive approach made the Kilian editions the most successful whiskies made in Germany. Numerous gold medals accompany the creativity and document the value of the St. Kilian products.
The strictly limited "Angel of Retribution" edition, on the other hand, was distilled by the Kilian team from a Scottish malted barley peated at 91 ppm by the Glenesk Maltings near Aberdeen. Double distilled in Forsyth's 6000 litre Swan Neck Pot Stills, the smoky distillate matured for four years exclusively in French 300 litre ex-Pineau des Charentes oak casks.
In these containers, winegrowers and distillers had previously produced a regional speciality, a liqueur wine from the Cognac department.
An AOC Pineau is a cuveé of freshly pressed unfermented grape juice and a young Cognac Eau de Vie (brandy), which matures in toasted oak barrels. The assemblage of grape juice and distilled young Cognac Eau de Vie approx. 65% abv. The ageing period can be four years for white Pineau and three years for red Pineau.
The sweet liqueur wine is protected by geographical indication and is usually bottled at 17% abv
The ideal drinking temperature for white, red or rosé Pineaux is between 8 and 10 degrees Celsius. It is drunk as an aperitif or as a long drink with tonic water or even with a little gin.
Vieux Pineau, on the other hand, matures aerobically for a particularly long time - around nine years, twenty or more - in original Cognac oak barrels.
The production area of vin de liqueur de Charentes is identical to that of Cognac. For more detailed information see...double click:
About the author
Ernie - Ernst J. Scheiner is the editor of the portal The Gateway to Distilleries www.whisky-distilleries.net
He documents over 150 distilleries photographically from the inside and describes the production of the whiskies in detail. Since his studies at the University of
Edinburgh, he has been involved with the subject of whisky and has published in specialist magazines such as The Ireland Journal, Kleinbrennerei, Whisky Passion and The Highland Herold. Features and stories have appeared in blogs like whiskyexperts, whiskyfanbl, SHMKR (closed) and whiskyintelligence. As head of the VHS Ingelheim, and now as a whisk(e)y ambassador, he teaches distilling, organizes study tours and tours to the sources of whisky.