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Stock Polska – Prestige products with history

Polmos Lublin (known today as Stock Polska) was founded by the industrialist Emil Plage in Lublin in 1906 and was able to survive both world wars and the communist state leadership. The company was nationalised in 1948 and re-privatised in 2001. It traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange until 2005 and was sold in 2006. The new owners, Oaktree Capital Management, purchased the spirits division from Eckes Stock in 2007 and thereby laid the foundations for the current Stock Spirits Group. The company has its headquarters in Luxembourg, its service centre in Great Britain and its production sites in the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland.

Stock dates back to the year 1884 when Lionello Stock founded a beverages business in Trieste. He purchased a distillery in 1920 in what is currently part of the Czech Republic with the aim of tapping into new markets. This was followed by distilleries, bottling plants and warehouses in Italy, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia. In the 1920s, Stock was one of the biggest companies of its kind in Europe.

After an absence of 70 years, Stock returned to Poland and began to manufacture at the historic site of Lublin, 150 kilometres south-east of Warsaw. Intensive investment led to the creation of the most modern distillery in Poland and a leadership position on the vodka market. Poland’s most popular flavoured vodka is produced here: Zoladkowa Gorzka.

Lots of Stock products are produced by traditional recipes. These classical brands appeal to connoisseurs all over the world. In return, work is constantly being done on innovations that correspond to modern tastes and new drinking cultures. Quality standards are constantly upheld in both areas, of course.

The quality of the products was recognised at the World Spirits Award with a gold medal for the Orkisz Spelt Vodka.

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.

Eifel-Destillerie: Herbal specialities from Eifel

In 1925, Peter-Josef Hubert Schütz and his sons set up a Korn distillery, run by a standing high-pressure steam boiler which was heated with coal. This was replaced by an oil-heated steam boiler in 1969 and the current high-speed steam generator was installed in 1989, with lower energy consumption and less heating time needed for the required steam pressure. Since 1998, Peter-Josef Schütz has been running the company and continuing its success. His philosophy is to “create enthralling products for our customers with natural ingredients and top-level art of distilling”.

Since the foundation of the company, spirits have been produced from the distilled alcohol, initially from Korn (grain) and double-Korn, double-juniper and ‘Schütz Boonekamp’. ‘Eifelgeist’, the speciality of the company made from 42 select herbs, was registered as a protected trademark in 1949. Herbal spirits then became the focus of the product range of high-quality liqueurs and brandies. Using Eifel in the name underlines the appreciation of the region it calls home. A valuable contributor to product diversity is the distillery’s ‘herb chamber’. Here, over 100 medicinal herbs, blossoms, seeds, barks and roots from all around the world are stored in wooden containers.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was awarded to Raspberry Liqueur, Eifelgold and Eifelgeist, and silver to Bitto. Werner Gin (a product made of vermouth from Weinmanufaktur Ellermann-Spiegel in Kleinfischlingen) also received gold.