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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.

Aldi Ireland: Gin and whiskey in retail

Aldi Ireland has several top products in its spirit range: Boyle’s Gin from the Blackwater Distillery and Ardfallen Whiskey from the West Cork Distillery, in addition, Mo Chara Passionfruit & Mango Gin from the Old Carrick Mill.

The Blackwater Distillery has been an Aldi partner since 2016 and developed the private label Boyle’s Gin exclusively for the Irish and British retail market. The product volume of the Blackwater Distillery for Aldi has risen strongly in recent years, whereby 140,800 bottles of the gin series were sold in 2018. The successful gin brand is manufactured in Blackwater Valley, West Waterford, with selected imported ingredients as well as regional apples, blackcurrants and elderflower. CEO Peter Mulryan – former TV producer and author of the book ‘The Whiskeys of Ireland’ – explains, “The partnership with Aldi has helped us to increase turnover enormously, and also to have the security to invest and expand. This includes on-site bottling facilities and a visitor centre.” Ardfallen Whiskey from the West Cork Distillery got its name from the region in County Cork where the malted barley comes from, and is only manufactured in small batches. The business was founded in 2003 by childhood friends who started out with only two small stills they had bought in Switzerland. Now the largest distillery in the country, it currently employs over 80 staff and exports to around 70 countries.

At the World Spirits Award, there was Gold for Ardfallen 10 Year Old Whiskey and Boyle’s Gin, and Silver for Boyle’s Sloe & Damson Gin and Ardfallen Whiskey.

Destilería Serrallés

Puerto Rico is world-famous for excellent rum, and one of the oldest family-run businesses with a perfect grasp of traditional craftsmanship is the Destilería Serrallés, founded in 1865. The beginning of their success story, however, lies even further back, as the family, originally from Catalonia, had already settled near the town of Ponce on the southern coast of the island in the 1830s. Their ‘Hacienda Mercedita’ became a proper town with workers’ settlements and its own railway – and a major exporter of cane sugar. The first barrels of rum were produced by Juan Serrallés with a copper pot still which he had imported from France.

These days the production process is a multiple distillation system with activated carbon filtration as a basis for clear, pure rum. Storage and maturation of the rum takes place in American oak barrels. The careful compilation of the blend is based on recipes passed down through the Serrallés family and perfected over six generations. The result is a portfolio of authentic rums from the region, with the flagship Don Q, the best-selling rum on the island. Incidentally, Don Q stands for Don Quijote, whose picture is on the bottles.

The World Class Distillery 2019 received gold for Don Q Añejo, Don Q Gran Añejo, Don Q Gold, Don Q Cristal Rum, Don Q Coco Rum, Don Q Pina, Don Q Double Aged Vermouth Cask Finish Rum, and silver for Don Q Oak Barrel aged Spiced Rum.

Walter Trausner: New beginnings with gin

Mr Trausner’s story begins at the start of the 1990s. After studying distillery and fermentation technology, he founded the Gasser-Trausner distillery in the Lungau region in the province of Salzburg, but was forced to close it less than ten years later. At the beginning of 2000, Walter Trausner and his wife, Eva, founded the ‘Trausners Genusswerkstatt’ factory and made a name for themselves with jams and sweets. In 2015, he invented ENZO Alpin, the world’s first soft drink made from gentian. Cordials soon followed, and then a second ENZO Alpin soft drink and two spirits: a bitter liqueur based on citrus fruit and gentian, and a London Dry Gin.

From 2019, Walter Trausner once again started to apply himself to the art of distillation and combined his experience with his usual perfectionist demands of the products. As well as gin, he also plans to distil single-variety grain distillates and whisky. Each kind of grain has its own particular taste – and this advantage is used to create a suitable distillate for each grain. The regional components also play a vital role, as the Lungau microclimate and pure mountain spring water offer ideal conditions for the maturing and mashing processes.

The first distillate from the Trausner company was a classic London Dry Gin made from wheat brandy, 23 botanicals and fresh organic bitter orange peel. The recipe dates back to 1997, when the distiller was one of the first in Austria to take a chance on what, at that time, was just a novelty: gin. He currently reinterprets old knowledge from monastery distilleries and produces liqueurs using an elaborate procedure – the basis are homemade grain spirits from local types of grain.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Lungaus Gentle Giant – New Single Malt, and silver for Lungaus Gentle Giant – Herb Liqueur and Lungaus Gentle Giant – APERO Liqueur.