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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.

Jim Beam Distillery – Bourbon straight on

Knob Creek is named after a rivulet in Kentucky, the home of President Abraham Lincoln. His steadfast attitude seems to serve as an example for this straightforward bourbon. The square ‘chemist’s bottle’ suits these traditional values perfectly, as does the striking label which is reminiscent of the old tradition of wrapping bottles in newspaper. To this day, a mixture of experience and craftsmanship is the recipe for success for the bourbon from Knob Creek.

The bourbon was at the peak of its success in 1919, when the nationwide prohibition of the sale, manufacture and transport of alcohol began – lasting until 1933. Following this, a new start was impossible for many distilleries; others couldn’t finance the customary long maturing process of the bourbon. This situation motivated Booker Noe to revive the traditional bourbon style from the time before the prohibition: rich in aroma, with discreet sweetness due to year-long maturation in strongly ‘toasted’ wooden barrels from American white oak. In 1950, he joined the family business – his mother was the daughter of Jim Beam, which meant bourbon was already in his blood – and completed his training as Master Distiller. With the small series of premium bourbon he launched, the term ‘batch’ (small) was established and revolutionised the industry. His son, Fred Noe, continues with this clear strategy: “I learnt the business from scratch, listened to my father and learnt on the job. I know what it means to make perfect bourbon. Each bottle is a reflection of my family.” Since 1992, the Knob Creek brand has represented these values with the perfect combination of tradition and top quality.

A golden trio was successful at the World Spirits Award: Knob Creek Rye Whiskey Small Batch, Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve Bourbon and Knob Creek Straight Bourbon.

WOB Destillerie Wolfram Ortner: 35 years of perfection

This ‘crazy idea’ was launched in 1989 with the premiere of a diva dressed in raspberry-red. Wolfram Ortner has always been committed to fine fruit distillates and has produced them to uncompromising perfection. His penchant for wines matured in wooden barrels led to his first apple brandy being matured in French Limousin oak barrels in 1990. In 2000, apples from the Lavant Valley were stored in Allier, Limousin, Never and Trançais barrels. The first whiskies were produced in 1996, and in 2016 the series of six special rums, fermented with different yeasts and bottled from approx. 40% vol. to cask strength, was launched.

The handling of wood has been perfected over more than three decades, using different types of oak and degrees of toasting. Since 2013, the barrels are no longer toasted, but the wood has been heavily charred. This required significantly longer storage times for the products: Hefe 2014 (yeast) and Apfel 2015 (apple) were bottled at cask strength in 2024, while the Dark 1 and Dark 5 rums were also bottled after around ten years. 2013 also saw the start of the exciting development of recipes for ‘drugs’ made from dried herbs and spices.

On 25 November 2019, there was an explosion at the distillery, and it was not rebuilt. In spring 2024, the last barrels were emptied, twelve products were bottled and the stylish ‘FAP’ line (brandy, rum and whisky) was created. Two apple-wood brandies and a wine yeast-wood product were the fiery finale with the name ‘Omega’. Ortner’s passion hasn’t ended yet, as there are plenty of WOB Spirits in stock, available in the store and at www.wob.at.

At the World Spirits Award 2025, there was Double Gold for Apfel Barrique Never (apple), Gold for KGB Kräuter-Gewürz Bitter (bitters), Apfel Barrique Tronçais (apple), Apfel Barrique Limousin (apple) and Apfel Barrique Allier (apple), and Silver for Dark 5 and Dark 1.

MattiE – Ellmauer Obstbrennerei: First-class distillery craftsmanship

Ellmauer Obstbrennerei is a Tyrolean family business that was handed over in 2009 from the Spielthenner-Walch family into the experienced hands of the Erber family, which has a long tradition of distilling dating back to 1909 in Brixen im Thale. After the external takeover, the talented distiller Matthias Erber moved to Ellmau in search of new challenges, where his fine skills are being put into practice.

The fourth and fifth generations work harmoniously together in the loving family business with the sole aim of producing high-quality distillates. Father and sons do everything they can to process only the finest fruit into fine brandies, because the essence is in the fruit, according to the distillery’s motto. Careful handling of raw materials and first-class mashing are the hallmarks of the Ellmauer Obstbrennerei. Whether handpicked sour cherries, Stanz plums, apricots, rowan berries or Gravensteiner apples: here you find everything your heart desires. In addition to fine brandies, schnapps and liqueurs, jams are prepared following traditional recipes.

On the one hand, inherited expertise meets acquired expertise in high-proof spirits. The trained brewer, maltster and distiller is the son of a famous autodidact in the world of spirits. On the other hand, a highly qualified producer meets a fully motivated distributor. Matthias is the doer, while Ramona is the hub of MattiE. The bonus for customers is that communication channels in a company could not be shorter.

At the World Spirits Award 2025, there was Gold for Williams Pear Brandy, Cherry Brandy and Sour Cherry Brandy, and Silver for Apricot Brandy, Red Williams Pear Brandy and Damson Brandy.