World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

Georg Hemmeter – XUXU, Escorial, SILLA EL FUERTE

Georg Hemmeter – strawberry drinks with exceptional flavour guaranteed

The name Georg Hemmeter – a company of the Underberg Group – stands for innovative spirits, in particular the XUXU range. The fresh and fruity strawberry drink contains 66 percent fruit plus crystal-clear vodka, rounded off with a dash of lime. The harmony between the sweetness of the fruit and just 15% alcohol by volume is created using a special production method. XUXU Ten, the little luxury in a 250 ml aluminium bottle with only 10% alcohol by volume, is dressed to party – it is still relatively new to the market, yet is already at home in all the world’s top party venues.
XUXU can be served in so many different ways: chilled, neat, on crushed ice, as a dessert topping, with sparkling wine or with other mixers – XUXU tastes heavenly and offers fresh and fruity pleasure. Welcome to Berrydise!

Initially the absolute top star in Greece, XUXU is now also number 1 in Russia, and extremely popular in Turkey and Italy too.


XUXU Strawberry & Vodka Drink and XUXU Ten won Gold at the World Spirits Award 2014.

Brennerei Penth: Ideas for schnapps from Saarland

The distillery is located in the heart of Saarland, in the small village of Landsweiler in Lebach, where the Penth family have dedicated themselves to the craft of distillation since 1959. In the family tradition, master distiller and juice maker, Franz Penth, runs the business that he took over from his father in 1981. He gained his master craftsman’s certificate in Berlin, but never had special training: “I was only eight years old and I was already watching my father distilling and helping out!”

The fruit harvest means high season at the Penth Distillery: every day, mirabelle plums, damsons, apples, quinces and other fruit are delivered. Year in, year out, the still is filled up to 1,000 times, whereby about 100 tonnes of fruit yield 15,000 litres of schnapps. In his many years of experience, Franz Penth has also filled the still 1,700 times and, when the harvest was bad, only 100 times. As a speciality of the house, the products are filled into gift bottles and exquisite, decorative bottles – also bespoke ones – which are sourced from glassblowing workshop all over Germany. And so, individual customer requests for custom-made bottles for companies and clubs can be met. Aside from the classic product range of brandies, spirits and liqueurs, over recent years new products such as Agnes’ Green Dry Gin and Pastis Bernard have been developed.

The Master Class Distillery 2019 received gold for Rosehip Brandy, Pear Brandy, and silver for Agnes’ Green Dry Gin, Pastis Bernard, cask-aged Apple Brandy, Organic Riesling Grape Brandy and Mirabelle Plum Brandy.

Bacardi: A world of brands with a value system

Don Facundo Bacardi was born near Barcelona and emigrated to Santiago de Cuba in 1830, where he founded a small distillery in 1862 at Calle Matadero 57. His wife Amalia discovered a colony of bats under their roof; bats are thought to provide protection for cultural assets by the local Taíno people, the indigenous population of Cuba. In Spain, bats are a symbol of health, happiness and family unity. And so this became the trademark of the new rum – now one of the most renowned logos in the spirits industry.

Bacardi is the world’s biggest privately owned company dealing in spirits, offering over 200 rum, vodka, whisky, gin, vermouth and tequila products which are sold around the world. The main brands include BACARDI Rum, ERISTOFF Vodka, MARTINI Vermouth, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Gin and GREY GOOSE Vodka. In 1877, Bacardi won their first gold medal for quality at the World’s Fair in Spain, and many more were to follow. In 1910, they opened their first international plant in Barcelona, the family’s hometown. In 1916, another bottling plant in New York followed. In the 1920s, Bacardi acquired a reputation as a symbol of luxury and lifestyle with a special kind of advertising. This holds true even today. The BACARDI Rum brand has become a symbol of the Caribbean and not just because this is where it has its roots; it also brings consumers that much closer to this ‘paradise’.

The Master Class Distillery 2024 received gold for Reserva Ocho, Superior, Spiced & Cola Ready-To-Drink and Reserva Ocho Rye Cask, and silver for Caribbean Spiced, Toasted Coconut Colada Ready-To-Drink, Mojito Ready-To-Drink, Roasted Pineapple Rum Punch Ready-To-Drink and Caribbean Espresso Rumtini Ready-To-Drink.