World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

Schwarze & Schlichte – Brand personalities from Westphalia

The family business Schwarze & Schlichte from Westphalia has been representing the highest quality spirits for the last 345 years with a distinct range of national specialities, regional traditional brands and successful international innovations. This top quality is based on a distilling tradition acquired over centuries which has been passed down over twelve generations. Even today, distilling and maceration still take place at the company’s own distillery where plenty of time and skill are invested. The selection and processing of the best raw materials and continuous control of the production process ensure a consistently high quality. One factor for success is the ongoing brand management in accordance with the specific requirements of the various brand personalities.

Three Sixty Vodka is one of the purest and mildest vodkas in the world. A fourfold distillation process ensures tangible softness and exceptional clarity while the purity of the vodka is all down to the time-consuming “Diamond Filtration” process: the finest filters are used, set with crystals like diamond dust, to remove even the smallest of suspended particles from the distillate. Even the packaging is unique: the facet-cut bottle of pure white shiny glass sets off this premium vodka to perfection. A black velvet label completes the sophisticated design.

The Grappa Bianca from Scavi & Ray is characterised by its full-bodied balanced flavour with powerful and intense aromas of marc. This crystal-clear brandy is soft and deliciously balanced thanks to the exquisite skill of the master distillery. The intense and fruity aroma is reminiscent of the sun-soaked vineyards in Italy.

Both products received a silver medal at the World-Spirits.

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’.

Destilaria Levira: Unmistakable gin from Portugal

The Portuguese company is nearly 100 years old. In 1923, the production of grape marc began. Thanks to decades of experience, in 2014 the decision was made to create a first-class and unique taste experience. The result is a London Dry Gin with the memorable name Adamus, derived from the Greek word Adamas (‘invincible’). In 2015, for the first time a limited series of 4,448 bottles was manufactured; since then, every year only a limited number of bottles are produced. The bottles are designed so that they are on a par with the gin: as if they were diamonds. And the cork underlines the naturalness of this drink.

For Adamus’ special character, 86 different botanicals were tested and distilled using different proce-dures. From these, the 18 best were selected with an interesting peculiarity: it is the only gin with the Baga grape from the Bairrada region. Besides juniper, also hibiscus, orange, lemon, cinnamon, gin-ger, cardamom, mint, sage, lavender, rose petals and lemongrass are distilled separately in tradition-al copper vats in a steam infusion method and then mixed in the perfect proportions. With the Ada-mus Dry Gin the Destilaria Levira has produced an excellent gin which has made its way into the most exclusive bars and restaurants of the world – a strong drink for special moments.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for Adamus Dry Gin.