World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

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.

Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits – Sporty on many waters

What began in 1996 as a small group of hobby brewers, who simply wanted to make good beer, developed over the years into a successful team under the name of Ballast Point. In 2008, distillation was added, and these days the company with its headquarters in San Diego is an internationally recognised market leader on the brewery and distillation scene, with a product range including more than 40 types of beer and seven spirits. In November 2013, Ballast Point was given the title of ‘California Distillery of the Year’ at the New York International Spirits Competition (NYISC), and Head Distiller Yuseff Cherney is rightly proud of the award, with so much competition around.

Co-founder Jack White adds: “For us, distillation is a natural expansion of brewing. We started with it for the same reason: we wanted to produce what we like drinking. With our spirits, we try to bring our own style into the century-old handicraft of distillation. And it is great that the public like it.” The bottles are also original, with motifs from the world of seafaring and fishing. These refer to the company founders’ second favourite pastime, congenially interpreted by artist Paul Elder, who transforms each idea into wonderful labels. The logo, a sextant, has a reason behind it: the historical navigation instrument was used to compare the angle of the stars to the horizon, to find out the nautical position of the boat. For the company, the sextant is a constant reminder to proceed with the journey, with new ideas and new flavours.

When they are not brewing or distilling, the Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits bosses are sure to be fishing. At other times, two professional sport angling teams train all year and take part in competitions. Talking of competitions: at the World Spirits Award, Ballast Point Spirits landed a good catch: Three Sheets Rum, Devil’s Share Moonshine and Devil’s Share Single Malt Whiskey took gold. Fugu Vodka, Old Grove Gin, Three Sheets Barrel Aged Rum and Devil’s Share Bourbon hooked silver.

Château du Tariquet - One castle, one family, on history

This family history begins in 1912 with the bear tamer Jean-Pierre Artaude who returned to his homeland in the south-west of France after many years in the USA. He purchased Château Tariquet and took his wife back to France with him at the start of the 1920s. His daughter Hélène and her husband Pierre Grassa (the son of Spanish immigrants who moved to the village of Éauze after being a prisoner of war) rebuilt their parents' property with a great deal of care and diligence and began to produce Bas-Armagnac here. Of their four children, Maïté and Yves continued the family tradition and remained on the estate. In 1972, they established a company here with their father and went on to develop their products and sales even further.

Today, this family company remains independent but has increased its estate to almost 1,000 hectares. The responsibility for the company lies with Maïté and Yves and their sons Armin and Rémy. It was Yves Grassa who decided, along with his sister, to produce white wines here in 1982, going against all tradition to produce a cuvée from Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc which is still appreciated today by wine lovers across the world.

In addition to its fresh and fruity Vins de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, the company concentrates its production on Armagnacs with 45% alcohol from the rare Folle Blanche grape variety that is typical of the region. The Baco and Ugni Blanc varieties form the basis for the assemblages with 40% alcohol. Recently, high-quality bottles have come onto the market, such as the XO cask no. 6 (54.9 % vol) which is characterised by its roasted aromas, vanilla notes and well integrated alcohol.

The Armagnac XO und Armagnac VSOP won gold at the World-Spirits Award.