Whisky from...? Germany 2

As you may know there are more distilleries in Germany than in Scotland so it's about time I did a second in the Whisky from...? series.

Whilst in Berlin last year I picked up a couple of bottles from Pinkernells Whisky Market, the third I'm trying in this blog came from a sample swap with @bhoy_whisky The three drams come from three different distilleries.

Aureum 1865 is from Brennerei Ziegler. The Ziegler company has been distilling spirits since 1865 on the banks of the River Main in Freudenberg in Southern Germany. They use organic barley malted and mashed by a centuries old local brewery. The wash is distilled at their distillery and matured on site in virgin oak, ex-bourbon and lightly toasted French Chestnut barrels.

  

Triple Cask is from Nine Springs distillery owned by Number Nine Spirituosen-Manufaktur. Nine Springs started as a brewery in 1867 in the town of Leinefelde-Worbis in Central Germany. It became a state brewery in East Germany following WW2 when the head brewer decided to try his hands at spirits following a trip to Scotland - these turned out to be illegal and the experimentation stopped. Experimentation started again in 2012 with the first proper distillate coming off the still in April 2013. The company have created a Whisky World at Scharfenstein Castle where you can try their spirits.

2016 Signature Edition - Three is from St. Kilian. Germany's largest distillery was build within an old textiles factory near Rüdenau in Central Germany in 2004 by a pair of German and Irish friends. The first distillate running from the stills on St. Patrick's Day 2016! 

  

Let's see what the drams are like:

  

Dram	Aureum 1865 (Brennerei Ziegler)	Triple Cask (Nine Springs)	2016 Signature Edition - Three (St. Kilian)
Characteristics	43% Natural colour, NCF virgin oak, ex-bourbon and lightly toasted French Chestnut barrels	45% ABV Natural colour, NCF American Virgin Oak, Ex-Bourbon, Ex-Bordeaux	50% ABV Natural colour, NCF Ex-Bourbon barrels
Distillery notes	The 5-year-old Aureum 1865 single malt whiskey has a smooth and elegant finish. It has classy power and is highly aromatic. The storage time in oak and chestnut barrels shaped it. The maturation takes place in bourbon and sherry barrels in the Aureum warehouse, which was built directly on the banks of the River Main. This whiskey is characterized by delicate biscuit tones paired with a floral note. Round and soft in the finish with pronounced sweetness.	Based on 3 types of barley malt, we mash, ferment and distill a fine, malty distillate. The maturation took place in American Virgin Oak, Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Bordeaux The red-gold color with copper reflections is impressive at sight. On the nose it is very malty, fruity with peach and prune, subtly spicy like clove and cardamom with a lot of vanilla and a little dark chocolate. With the first sip you can feel a powerful spicy approach, intense notes of a dried fig, pleasant roasted notes of cocoa beans and a soft sweetness. The whiskey ends voluminously with a slightly bitter tannin structure, spicy notes tingle in the throat for a long time.	With the Signature Edition "Three" we pursue our special passion - peaty single malts based on the Scottish model. The third whiskey of the Signature Edition follows the tradition of classic peated malt whiskeys: distilled with peated barley malt from Scotland and stored for over three years in selected American oak barrels.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, bead up and fall as slow thick legs.	Dark gold, almost bronze in the glass, cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up and fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	Shortbread, orchard fruit and a slight acetone note. Some herbal notes too. Some honey and stewed fruit notes develop after a little time in the glass.	Thick strawberry jam notes, dried fruit, marzipan, cinnamon - all suggesting sherry(?) Christmas in a glass!	Gentle maritime peat smoke, toffee, citrus peel and a sweet honey note. Tropical fruit hints - ripe banana, mango.
Palate	Thin slightly oily arrival with sweet honey, tropical fruit - pineapple and mango, and a little toffee. A few more sips offer vanilla custard, there's a hint of citrus as the liquid disappears and a dryness left in the mouth.	Thick sweet arrival, red berries, cherries and honey. More cinnamon gives a gentle spice. A few more sips uncovers a complexity defying it's youth - dried fruit, almonds and a little milk chocolate with icing sugar leaving a dryness as the liquid disappears. I thought the Aureum was dry - this is much dryer.	Thick creamy arrival, the smoke hiding in the background whilst you enjoy the honey and tropical fruit notes - the ripe bananas, mango and papaya. There's a salinity in here too that you'd associate with Islay or Campbeltown. The smoke does come as the liquid disappears, dry and heathery.
Finish	Medium length sweet honey, vanilla and orchard fruit - sightly drying.	Long dry sweet notes of red berries and milk chocolate. Slightly spicy.	Long lingering peat smoke with tropical fruit and a ginger spice.
Overall	Three very drinkable drams, easily comparable to Scottish whisky.  The Aureum reminds me a little of the M&M Chestnut Single Pot Still sharing some herbal and vanilla custard notes. The Nine Springs shouts sherry bomb but the box notes say Virgin Oak, Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Bordeaux - very interesting! The St. Kilian could easily be mistaken for one of the hundreds of bottles of Independent Caol Ila - smoky and salty. So based on these three examples I'd suggest the German whisky scene is doing very well, we don't see much of it here in the UK, they keep if for themselves (much like the Hela Curry Ketchup which I love!). As I said in my intro two of these bottles were bought on a recent trip to Berlin and I don't think are available in the UK but if you can find them buy a bottle!

Major German distilleries:

Map: www.alba-collection.de