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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’.

Limomacher: Regionally produced – socially labelled

Limomacher is a young Bregenz enterprise, according to their own definition “excellent in graphics, design, customer service, lemonade production, social involvement and coffee drinking”. However, a look at the brief biographies of the four-person team reveals quite a bit about their wide-ranging qualifications. All lemonades are produced regionally in Vorarlberg according to their own recipes. Short pathways right up until labelling – also labels for private customers and companies on request – reinforce sustainability, along with filling exclusively in glass bottles. The labelling, as well as the whole warehousing, are handled by Lebenshilfe Vorarlberg, a support organisation for people with disabilities. This is an indication that social thinking has been of great importance from the beginning.

At the beginning of 2018, the ‘Franz von Durst’ brand started in Spar shops, followed by the start-up shelf at Metro. The company developed a gin along with a tonic water for this purpose, as the first manufacturer in retailing that offers both as a one-stop shop. The gin that is also regionally produced goes perfectly with the tonic water and its animating and aromatic concept offers an exceptionally fruity drinking experience. Aside from the juniper base, five further botanicals play a role: angelica root provides a slight tanginess and supports the homogenous taste; orange peel is characterised by a range of aromatic substances and a fine hint of citrus; liquorice provides a complex sweetness with a slightly earthy note; elderberry has an intensive and refreshing taste; and hops gives it a special something.

“We are delighted that the Vorarlberg locals have received our gin so well and that we can expand step by step also into other provinces,” say the two young entrepreneurs.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was achieved by Franz von Durst Gin, and silver by Franz von Durst Dry Gin Wild.

Havana Club International

Havana Club International was founded in November 1993 by Cuba Ron and the French Pernod Ricard Group with the aim of developing the brand internationally through its powerful distribution network. In 2007, a distillery was opened in San José de Las Lajas to meet the increasing demand for matured rums. Today, Havana Club is the number three international rum brand in the world and the leader in super-premium rums. Exports are made to more than 125 countries, with the exception of the USA, where Cuban products are banned due to the trade embargo. The most important export markets in Europe are Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK, and over the Atlantic are Chile, Canada, Argentina and Mexico.

The name ‘El Ron de Cuba’ stands for Cuba’s culture, climate, geography and history. In the modern distillery, the production process is monitored by four Maestros del Ron Cubano to ensure compliance with production laws. The process includes the extraction of the sugar cane juice, the production of the molasses, fermentation and continuous distillation. The result is aguardiente that is at least two years old, filtered through charcoal for purity and only blended when the maestros have confirmed its maturity. Natural ageing in the tropical climate contributes to its unique character. In 2022, UNESCO declared the top products to be a world cultural heritage and highlighted their role in preserving the craft of Cuban rum.

At the World Spirits Award, the Master Class Distillery 2024 received gold for Havana Club Original Añejo 3 Años, Havana Club Selección de Maestros and Havana Club Añejo Especial, and silver for Havana Club Añejo 7 Años and Havana Club Añejo 15 Años.

Brauerei Hirt: A passion for the authentic

The Hirt private brewery sees itself primarily as a Pils beer brewery, but has also produced exceptional beer brandies since 1998.

Only special beers are used to create the Braumeisterbrand brandy, and pure brewed beer is used for the mashing process and is distilled in a column distillery. The fruity aroma develops after a long time in storage. The Zigarrenbrand cigar brandy is stored in French oak barriques following the distillation process, where it is left to mature for over five years.

The Hirter GenussAkademie offers a demanding range of courses – for amateur brewers as well as for top catering professionals, seminars on pairing beer with various foods, and certified beer sommelier courses. 16 speciality beers are produced in Hirt, which include the Privat Pils based on an old Bohemian recipe, the dark Morchl, the malty 1270, and the non-alcoholic Freigeist.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Hirter Braumeisterbrand and Hirter Zigarrenbrand.