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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.

Wilhelm Horn – Brand name spirits with a local tradition

In 1923, Wilhelm Horn opened a brandy and liqueur shop on Menckestraße in Leipzig, and following successful expansion, HORN’s Weinstuben wine lounge was opened in Südstadt in 1931. By 1933, the company had 46 branches and 75 subsidiaries, to which wine distillery and vermouth production were added. The newly constructed Wilhelm Horn Branntwein & Likörfabrik became a leading company in the German wine and spirits business, with a wide range of brand name products with the slogan “Wine and corn – always from Horn”. Following the disruption of the Second World War, the company was nationalised in 1972 and taken back into private ownership in 1991.

In 2005, Klaus Horn passed on the enormous potential of brand names and recipes in the Leipzig tradition to Wilhelm Horn Markenspirituosen GmbH, founded by Lutz Thielemann and Thomas Schneider. In the spirit of the founding family, they breathed new life into the company and moved to Bayrischer Platz. There they manufacture high proof spirits rooted in the region, such as Echter Leipziger Allasch, Leipziger Kräuter Wilhelm or Long Horn Handcrafted Lipsk Dry Gin. The juniper aroma combines with lavender, coriander and lime blossom – the latter a reverence to the many lime trees in the town of Leipzig, centuries ago known to the Slavs as Lipsk, the ‘lime place’.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for the caraway speciality Echter Leipziger Allasch, and silver for Long Horn Handcrafted Lipsk Dry Gin.

Wirtshausbrennerei Hans Krenn – Innkeeper and medal collector

Under the banner of ‘pure inn-keeping culture’, Martina Krenn spoils guests with products from this culinary region – authentic Waldviertel specialities and spicy horseradish dishes. And speaking of spice: distiller and brandy sommelier (in one!) Hans Krenn serves his brandies with these dishes. The spirits have won numerous high-calibre national and international awards since 1995. Indeed, a shower of medals is almost the company trademark.

The food and drink are served in the stylish stone pine lounge or guestroom with its tiled stove. In summer, guests can enjoy their meals in the garden. The programme features regular brandy sampling and tasting menus – to our luck there are more than enough peaceful and comfortable areas, including four well equipped gourmet rooms, and a spa area with sauna to ensure guests can indulge in full relaxation. Speaking of pure and clear: Hans Krenn only produces quality fruit brandies made from natural, organically harvested fruits. The majority come from the south of the Waldviertel area; the apricots and quality fruits are mostly from Wachau, while the wild fruit varieties are obtained from fruit traders and the surrounding area. The fruits are then carefully distilled in a copper vessel and subject to ongoing checks in a specially designed wood-fired distillery.

The Master Class Distillery 2022 received gold for Schlehenbrand (sloe brandy), Kriecherlbrand (Mirabelle plum brandy) and Zwetschkenbrand im Eichenfass (damson brandy in an oak barrel), and silver for Kren Gin (horseradish gin), Marillenbrand (apricot brandy), Kaiserholzbirnenbrand (pear brandy) and Rote Williams (pear).