World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

Luding Group: Vodka Tchaikovsky as a high-spirited homage to the famous composer

At the beginning of the 1990s, the modern distillery ‘Fortuna’ was launched in a green field in the south of Russia – in the Krasnodar region, a strip of land with spa resorts and health centres. The distillery has specialised in unusual products, in a region with a particularly green fingerprint. The vodka created in honour of the great Russian composer Tchaikovsky is special. The concept for this exceptional product is comparable with one of his musical scores: the work ‘Swan Lake’ served as an inspiration. Art enthusiasts can thus immerse themselves in the history of Russian estate life in the 19th century. The traditional white and blue colours underline the purity of this vodka.

The technical particularities span a wide quality-orientated spectrum: from the selected wheat, their own well water and the special treatment of the distillate with skimmed milk powder to the crystal-clear filtration with active birch coal. With so much perfectionism and monitoring of the individual production steps, the result is an especially gentle, animating and very typical vodka based on wheat. After the diluting of alcohol and pure distillate, the production process is continued with maturation in steel tanks. The aim is to ‘wed’ both ‘waters’, resulting in an especially harmonious vodka.

At the World Spirits Award 2022, Vodka Tchaikovsky was awarded double gold and honoured as the best vodka with the title ‘Spirit of the Year’.

Ehrenwert GmbH: One recipe – two families

One recipe – two families. Each family has its own carefully guarded secret recipe, and with the Lücke family this remained in the hands of grandfather Heinz and later his son Dieter for many decades. Long enough, thought sons Thomas and Christian. In any case, it is the ‘Felsenfeuer’ herb liqueur that once made the Lücke Distillery one of the most important in Münsterland. After the war they continued the success story which first began in the 18th century, with this herb liqueur, using the recipe that Heinz Lücke worked out. In the 1950s everyone was talking about it, but in the 1960s the era of the distillery and the herb liqueur ended. But not for good – 60 years later it celebrated its resurrection with the ‘Freudenfeuer’.

Whilst searching for a distillery, Thomas and Christian kept to family tradition, as their grandmother was a Sasse, and the Sasses’ fine distillery in Schöppingen is still well known today. Following a traditional recipe from 1947 the new liqueur is distilled in small batches and is bottled by hand after a ten-day rest period. Ready to enjoy: neat and ice cold like in the time of our grandfathers, or smoother, on ice with lightly pressed orange zest, or as a basis for a long drink with tonic water or ginger ale. To old times and new friends!

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Freudenfeuer.

Erste Dresdner Spezialitätenbrennerei – Strong stuff from Saxony

A distillery was set up in the 13 metre long vaulted cellar of the former Dresden-Klotzsche vineyard in 2001. Today, it has six employees and is both a primary occupation and a calling for Swiss-born Georg Schenk. High-quality products form the focal point here: in addition to fine liqueurs, over 50 different types of brandy are produced as well. At the heart of the selection are the traditional aromatic varieties including Adersleber Calvill and Zuccalmaglio Renette apples. A visitor centre was established in autumn 2010 where tasting sessions bring the wide range of flavours to life.

‘Augustus Rex’, the company’s rather grand-sounding sobriquet, is reminiscent of Augustus the Strong who was omnipresent in Saxony: he had orchards planted to promote healthy nutrition of his people. The area around Dresden is a traditional fruit-growing region with a large number of old meadows with mixed fruit trees. Harvesting has to be carried out by hand, and the care of the large trees, some of which are more than 80 years old, is time-consuming and laborious. In any one meadow, there is only a small number of trees of the same variety, so the quantities are limited from the word go.

The list of customers of this Dresden-based specialist is impressive: from Berlin (Hotel Adlon, Hotel Bristol, KaDeWe) to Hamburg (Alsterhaus and The Private Business Club Hanse Lounge), Sylt and Munich (Feinkost Käfer, Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski).


The company added yet more awards to its collection of over 80 prizes at the World Spirits Award, including classification as a First Class Distillery 2013, gold medals for the Apfel Champagner Renette (apple), Freiberger Bockbierbrand (bock beer brandy) and Dresdner Gin and silver for the Zuccalmaglio Renette and Stanley Pflaume (plum).

Erismann Distillery – Memories of summer and autumn

In the Erismann Distillery, good craftsmanship has been a passion and obsession for four generations. The focus is always on the product, its quality and its pleasure potential, however, there is no big secret about how it is done. Aside from fruit brandies, grappa and liqueurs, special attention is also paid to gin, whisky and rum.

Many factors determine the soul of a whisky; the right grain, the ideal yeast, the most appropriate barrel. This applies to Switzerland just as much as for Scotland. That special touch is due to the raw materials from the region and their specific flavour. The whisky matures for five and a half years in a sherry barrel. Unblended, lightly filtered and uncoloured, each batch is a limited edition. “The inspiration for gin came from our threshing floor, where a layer of hay flowers often lies. We want it to convey the character of a lush farmer’s garden.” Hans Erismann wanted an honest and simple product, fine and down-to-earth. The selected botanicals (juniper berries, barberry, bay leaves, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, liquorice, cubeb pepper, hay flowers, hyssop, elderflowers, beebalm, camomile flowers, iris root and mint) are laid individually in alcohol for a few days so that their aroma can unravel. The finished gin is combined with spring water. Ron Juan is a true rum – conceived in Zurich, made in Zurich. Selected organic molasses from Paraguay, specially developed rum yeast, some Zurich air and a large amount of Zurich spring water – this is Ron Juan.

At the World Spirits Award 2025, there was Gold for ZH Züri Gin and ZH Züri Whisky, and Silver for Ron Juan Züri Rum.