St Kilian Judas Priest British Steel

St Kilian Judas Priest British Steel

Official bottling
Single malt - Bavaria
Golden
47% ABV
Dram

Nose: Fresh baked bread, magic marker, leather, white pepper, dunnage, hints of farmyard. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, cool, thickens slightly, mouth coating. 
Tasting:  Sweet sour. Orange peel, malted grains, surgical spirit, fresh baked bread, elderflower, thyme, dunnage, hints of farmyard. 
Finish: Medium. Orange peel, surgical spirit, thyme, white pepper, dunnage. 

Comments: 

Quite floral and sweet but also with a funky, fermented slightly metallic note. It’s also quite estery and spirity. As with other drams from this distillery, there’s the bones of something potentially great there, but for its lack of balance.

Verdict:

I like this.

St Kilian 2017 Handfill

St Kilian 2017 Handfill

Official bottling 
Single malt - Bavaria
Bright gold

46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Apples, pears, charcoal ash, smoke, tobacco leaf, peat, hints of rubber bands. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens slightly, cool, astringent. 
Tasting:  Bitter. Charcoal ash, apples, vanilla, lemon zest, smoke, tobacco leaf, peat, menthol. 
Finish: Long. Menthol, tobacco leaf, charcoal ash, smoke. 

Comments: 

Quite an ashy finish, but laden with fruit and herbal flavours. There’s some lemony pears in there but it’s really fairly peated and smoky.

Verdict:

I like this.

St Kilian Peated

St Kilian Peated

Official bottling 
Single malt - Bavaria
Golden 
46% ABV
Dram

Nose: Sandalwood, peat, driftwood smoke, wet stones, roast beef, leather, soot, hints of white pepper. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, slippery, cool, tingly. 
Tasting:  Sour bitter. Peat, malted grains, wet stones, soot, leather, mint, lemon sweets, honey, driftwood smoke, hints of yoghurt. 
Finish: Medium. Leather, soot, honey, lemon sweets, hints of yoghurt. 

Comments: 

Very sooty and peaty, but with saline citrus notes. This reminds me of a young Lagavulin, but with some creamy lactic flavours that combine well with the peat and smoke, albeit it’s not Jura-esque.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

St Kilian 5yo Batch 1

St Kilian 5yo Batch 1

That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Master of Malt
Single malt - Bavaria
Amber pink
53.1% ABV
Dram

Nose: Black pepper, malted grains, lemon zest, raisins, cocoa nibs, sea salt, hints of garlic. With water, raisins, brown paper, cocoa nibs, hints of garlic. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, loosens, warm, airy. 
Tasting:  Salty sweet. Hoppy beer, black pepper, raisins, malted grains, yoghurt, brown paper, hints of garlic. With water, black pepper, sea salt, oak chips, hints of garlic. 
Finish: Long. Hoppy beer, sea salt, brown paper, raisins, hints of garlic. 

Comments: 

Spicy and malty, but with a slightly strange garlicky edge. It’s pervasive, making the whisky savoury sweet. A very unusual combination of flavours that I’ve never had before. 

Verdict:

I like this.