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Kafi Liqueur: Exotic and refreshing

It happened in the kitchen of the restaurant in which Sem Vermeulen was working as an apprentice chef. His tasks included cleaning the freezer. Right at the back, covered with a white layer of snow, he spotted a kaffir lime. The fresh fragrance alone inspired the idea of making a liqueur out of it. However, some years were to pass from the coincidental find to the right recipe, with a whole host of experiments. In one’s youth, of course, one neither has the budget nor the means to acquire the best equipment. This led to a partnership with Toorank International Spirits in the Netherlands, a well-known craft distiller with over 40 years of experience, offering numerous trade brands alongside their own.

Kafi was conceived by a young team that is not afraid to be different from what the market is accustomed to or demands. Their forward-looking vision aims towards new taste trends for the drinks industry and Kafi is just the beginning. It started modestly with a batch of 5,000 bottles and has only been on the Dutch market since the end of August 2021. It is made with the greatest care, from the selection of the best products to the design of the bottle. The result: something refreshing, new, and surprising. A liqueur that is not disguised with sugar but presents itself as an exotic delicacy: with fresh tartness, pleasant sweetness and subtle bitterness. Kafi is also popular among cooks and bartenders, ideal for cocktails such as Mojito, combined with ceviche or for a delicious lemon tart – the possibilities abound.

At the World Spirits Award, Kafi Liqueur was awarded silver.

BillionBars: From a bartender to a drinks developer

Robert Pölzl is one of the best-known bartenders in Austria, the bar is his world and his vocation. Travelling around the world, he entertains, advises and serves, sometimes shaking and sometimes stirring. He transforms classic drinks into new creations using modern methods and flavours. Because for him the possibilities of working with drinks and spirits is endless, he chose the name BillionBars. For people looking for a bar concept and innovative drinks, they are definitely in the right hands with Pölzl. His aim is to identify what the customer wants and needs.

He himself has already sampled and mixed hundreds of gins, and has now developed his own creation. According to the motto: Small Batch, Big Taste, Great Gin. As a bartender, he has made it his task to keep conjuring new drink experiences into the glasses of guests. For his own gin he perfected the various botanicals. In his words: “Eye – nose – palate”.

With the master distiller Patrick Marchl, he found the missing building block for realising his vision. The high quality standards are reflected in the choice of exclusively organic botanicals. Distilling was undertaken by Rick Gin in Styria, with traditional ingredients such as juniper berries, complex pepper aromas and fine lemon and cardamon, creatively rounded off with a fine hint of truffle. The New Western Style category was therefore the right platform for reinterpreting creativity and the courage to ‘be different’.

At the World Spirits Award, bronze was awarded to BillionBars Trüffel Dry Gin.

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’.

Roust Hungary: Affordable luxury on the spirits market

Roust was founded in 1992 by the Russian businessman Roustam Tariko and quickly developed into a leading business group in the sale of premium spirits brands. One of the world’s leading vodka producers, the company is present in more than 80 countries. Roust owns production plants and distribution centres in Hungary, Russia and Italy. The comprehensive portfolio includes the flagship vodka brands of Russian Standard, Green Mark, Parliament and Zhuravli.

Thanks to its extensive knowledge in sales and marketing and its commitment to responsible alcohol consumption, Roust Hungary has become the leading supplier on the domestic spirits market. The largest premium spirits company in Hungary also sells the Royal, Zubrówka, Russian Standard, Gancia, Grants, Jägermeister and Metaxa brands.

For years, Royal Vodka has maintained its position as the most popular and well-known vodka brand in Hungary, and also remains market leader in terms of volume and turnover. Royal Vodka is produced using natural ingredients, from the grain to the well water, which contributes to its mild taste.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Royal Original Vodka, and bronze for Royal Raspberry Liqueur.