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Family of Hounds – Sought and found

Andrea Frigerio and his English wife, Lina, live in Monaco with their two dogs, Spot and Magda, two wonderful additions to the family. Since they started taking the two for walks in town, they have made many new friends. Andrea and Lina used to be red wine drinkers, who spent their holidays in the wine hills of Italy and France. It was only in 2013, while visiting a country estate in England, that they discovered their love for a good G & T. This developed into a passion, and their discussions soon revolved around what it would be like to create their own gin.

They tasted intensively, discarded aromas they didn’t like, and extracted the aromas they did. Together with the master distiller in an old distillery in Piedmont, they created their recipe for the gin: juniper, lemon and orange peel, pink grapefruit, lavender, thyme, cardamom, ginger and coriander. The first three ingredients come from Italy, the rest from Asia. “The juniper is really loud, like a brightly lit disco floor, and the other botanicals dance around it. Together, they are like a lively, attention-seeking dog that can’t sit still.”

In the future, they are looking to establish a small family of spirits, from gin to vodka and from grappa to vermouth – unmistakable in taste, but accessible to everyone. The core of the philosophy is going out with good friends, enjoying a good meal and even better spirits. The first step has already been taken …

At the World Spirits Award, there was double gold for Family of Hounds Gin.

Diageo – From London to the whole world

Approximately 33,000 employees are employed worldwide at Diageo, the market leader in premium spirits, with Smirnoff (vodka), Johnnie Walker (whiskey), J&B (Scotch whiskey), Baileys (liqueur), Captain Morgan (rum), Cuervo (tequila) and Tanqueray (gin), Guinness beer and branded wines. Production takes place all around the world: from Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Spain and Africa, to the USA, Canada, Latin America, Australia, India and the Caribbean. The global corporation emerged in 1997 from the merger between Guinness and GrandMet. 180 markets around the world are handled from its London headquarters.

A lot of work and lots of attention to detail go into creating the in-depth product descriptions on Diageo’s website. Information and analysis is provided about issues ranging from detailed descriptions of the production down to the most minute ingredients. Finally, they are aware of the size of their company and also of their responsibilities as a supplier of alcoholic products. The name Diageo was also deliberately chosen – it represents their agenda. Put together from ‘dia’ (the Latin word for ‘day’) and ‘geo’ (the Greek word for ‘world’), it means that every day people are celebrating all over the world with products from their company. These products open up possibilities never dreamed of for special days and nights, marking special life events and even making the smaller things in life feel magical.

Participation in the World Spirits Award was magical: there was double gold for Tanqueray No. 10 (Spirit of the Year 2016), gold for Gordon’s London Dry Gin and Tanqueray London Dry Gin, as well as silver for Tanqueray Rangpur.

Lovely Rita Spirits – With a clear concept for the future

The company Lovely Rita Spirits, based in Arizona, was founded by Ray Rita, Michael Meinerz and Bob Derks. All three have a soft spot for Latin American culture and lifestyle, run a website for the Latino community, and organise fashion shows with South American designers. So it is understandable that their focus is on the fashionable spirit, tequila. To support their activities, they have created a special brand, aimed at a predominantly progressive female audience.

The soft, balanced tequila is produced according to traditional methods in a distillery in Mexico, which has been there for 90 years. Flavoured with a touch of agave, the six times distilled vodka with a corn basis is produced and bottled in Arizona. Using the successful concept, more products will follow, such as tequila varieties with peach and orange.

In order to be able to concentrate on the further development of the brand products, they cooperate with one of the largest distributors in the USA, the Breakthru Beverage Group. In addition, the spirits are available at www.oldtowntequila.com. Brand Ambassador is the Armanetti Group – Frank Armanetti’s family was once the largest spirits dealer in Chicago.

“We as founders and our investors are convinced that, thanks to the quality of the product and the right sales channels, we have two of the three things we need. The rest is a bit of luck and a high enough turnover”, say Michael Meinerz and Bob Derks.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Lovely Rita Vodka, and silver for Lovely Rita Tequila.

Polini Distillates: From Italy around the world

As one of the biggest corporations in the D&B sector in Italy and one of the largest in Europe, the company manages an extensive portfolio of own brands and premium brands that are sold in over 50 countries.

The Polini Group Italia was founded in 1967 between the towns of Bergamo and Brescia as a family enterprise. It has adapted to market trends over the years, growing and
changing without losing its character. Knowledge of artisanal manufacturing procedures was coupled with highly modern automated production. Since the beginning of the 1990s, trade brands have been pushed which have brought the company to a leading position in the market, with more than 150 brands registered in Italy and about 20 further brands in 35 countries worldwide. In recent years, the focus has shifted to exports, concentrating on major brands and targeted investment in marketing and advertising. To support the constant growth of the markets, investments have been made in technologies and infrastructures, with the aim of covering the whole production process independently. The two Italian locations were merged into one plant in 2009, conceived with a focus on logistics and process automation. Apart from business management, administrative and trade offices and a research and development laboratory, it comprises a production plant with a capacity of 150,000 bottles per day and a logistics platform. Today 25 to 30 million bottles are produced per year.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was awarded to MySpritz, Limoncello Liberty, Higuana 12, Sambuca Iseo and Glen Forest. Silver was awarded to London Burning, Xo Brandy Riserva 14 anni vecchia rovere, Shamrose and Proud Irish Single Malt.