St. Kilian 2020-21/2025 Signature Edition Fifteen

Volume: 0.5 litres | Alcohol content: 53.3% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

Signature Edition Fifteen combines St. Kilian single malt distilled in 2020 and 2021. For this smoky release, the distillery used Scottish peated malt with a phenol level of 80 ppm. The whisky matured entirely in former Amarone red wine casks from the Lenotti winery. The 50-, 100- and 310-litre casks each contributed wine character to the composition. Within the series, Fifteen follows the 2019 Signature Edition Two, which also matured in Amarone casks, as its peated counterpart.

The Amarone casks place the peat smoke alongside fruit and wine notes: berries and cherries sit beside peach and vanilla, while cocoa and ashy smoke emerge on the palate. The long finish brings together red fruit jam and dark chocolate with slightly drying tannins and oak spice. St. Kilian bottled the whisky in 2025 at 53.3% in 0.5-litre bottles. Limited to 4,610 bottles, the release is uncoloured and non-chill-filtered, and comes in gift packaging.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose reveals red berries, woodland fruits, dark cherries and ripe peach. Sweet peat smoke, delicate grilled notes, a trace of vanilla and spicy oak accompany the fruit.
• Palate: On the palate, the velvety sweetness of dark cherries, redcurrants and ripe peaches combines with creamy vanilla. Warming oak spice and a hint of cocoa meet ashy peat smoke.
• Finish: The finish is long and creamy-sweet. Red fruit jam and dark chocolate linger with delicate peat smoke, slightly drying tannins and oak spice.

Distillery/Bottler:

St. Kilian Distillers was established in 2012 on the site of a former textile factory in Rüdenau, Lower Franconia. Founder Andreas Thümmler developed the distillery with Irish whisky expert David F. Hynes; production began there in March 2016. Its equipment includes four wooden washbacks and two copper stills made by Forsyths, each with a capacity of 6000 litres. As Master Distiller, Mario Rudolf oversees whisky production and the creation of the Signature Editions. St. Kilian also distilled and bottled Signature Edition Fifteen itself; its Amarone casks came from Lenotti.

Facts: