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Fünfundsechzig07: Five men – one mission

In summer 2018, a decision was made by Christian Dautermann, Heinz Dengel, Thorsten Winternheimer and Jörg and Joachim Schweizer: Ingelheim needed a gin, and one with depth. Edgy, strong and distinctive. No sooner said than done: the result is a local version of the cult spirit, with the noteworthy name Fünfundsechzig07. Every true Ingelheim local knows that is the old postcode of the Rhine-Hessian town – and at the same time a liquid declaration of love to their hometown.

19 botanicals in the Ingelheim Dry Gin provide a true taste explosion. Lemongrass, cardamom, orange blossom and bitter orange make it a distinctive counterpart to the predominantly sweetish range of gins. “Fünfundsechzig07 is simply different: edgy, deep and full of character – just as a product from our hometown should taste,” Thorsten Winternheimer states. The expertise was provided by Heinz Dengel, in whose distillery, in existence since 1882, the gin was produced. A labour of love, as he explains: “It was our first gin, but thanks to plenty of experience no problem. On the contrary, we are happy to be able to try out something new.” Christian Dautermann, who presented the gin at his wine tasting days, is also impressed. The gin is also well-received among wine drinkers. “We met with great interest and the feedback was very positive. This motivates us, of course,” the vintner is delighted to report.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was awarded to Fünfundsechzig07 Ingelheim Dry Gin.

Cezana: Gin and rum from the south of Romania

The Magura Zamfirei distillery is situated in the Greater Wallachia area in the south of the country. After over 15 years of experience in agriculture and the cultivation of wheat, barley, rye and corn, Cezana implemented the latest technology, automation software and digitisation at all levels in 2021, following the logical progression from farming to alcohol production. All the natural ingredients were available, as well as the expertise for manufacturing first-class products. In 2022, they worked with two small facilities, an 85-litre hybrid still and a 50-litre iStill. 15,000 bottles a year can be distilled with the pot stills. A 1,000-litre mash tank and a 1,100-litre fermentation tank are equipped with an automation system for controlling all mashing and fermenting processes. Filling and labelling are semi-automatic, with a capacity of 1,000 bottles per day.

Dry Gin No. 4 is the first 100% hand-crafted Romanian gin, processing juniper berries, citrus fruits, hibiscus, chokeberry and blackberries, as well as local herbs. Moonlight Gin is distilled at full moon from 15 botanicals, along with juniper there is also coriander, cardamom, blackcurrants, orange and lime peel, pink pepper, ginger, angelica root, liquorice root, vanilla, cinnamon, grains of paradise (Guinea pepper), iris and Clitoria ternatea blossom. The latter provides the unusual ultramarine blue colour. For Haiduc Rum White, sugar cane molasses from South America is traditionally processed by the master distiller.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was awarded to Moonlight Gin and Haiduc Rum White, and silver to Dry Gin No. 4.

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.

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’.