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Ehrenwert GmbH: One recipe – two families

One recipe – two families. Each family has its own carefully guarded secret recipe, and with the Lücke family this remained in the hands of grandfather Heinz and later his son Dieter for many decades. Long enough, thought sons Thomas and Christian. In any case, it is the ‘Felsenfeuer’ herb liqueur that once made the Lücke Distillery one of the most important in Münsterland. After the war they continued the success story which first began in the 18th century, with this herb liqueur, using the recipe that Heinz Lücke worked out. In the 1950s everyone was talking about it, but in the 1960s the era of the distillery and the herb liqueur ended. But not for good – 60 years later it celebrated its resurrection with the ‘Freudenfeuer’.

Whilst searching for a distillery, Thomas and Christian kept to family tradition, as their grandmother was a Sasse, and the Sasses’ fine distillery in Schöppingen is still well known today. Following a traditional recipe from 1947 the new liqueur is distilled in small batches and is bottled by hand after a ten-day rest period. Ready to enjoy: neat and ice cold like in the time of our grandfathers, or smoother, on ice with lightly pressed orange zest, or as a basis for a long drink with tonic water or ginger ale. To old times and new friends!

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Freudenfeuer.

Distillery Krauss: Delicious spirits from the Koralpe

At the foot of Koralpe in St. Martin im Sulmtal lies Distillery Krauss. What started in 2007 in a small garage in Schwanberg developed into an international spirits producer from 2018 at the new location, now with five employees. It has made a name for itself globally especially for gin, marking Austria on the gin world map. In addition, other top products such as rum, whisky, apple brandy and aniseed spirit have been awarded worldwide, rounding the product range off perfectly.

Amongst everything that is undertaken in the successful enterprise, some ‘cornerstones’ have emerged over the years as the most important values: a wide product range, concentration on the essentials, enjoyable moments, expertise and quality. For the fine brandies, there is an emphasis on single barrel filling at barrel strength. Despite the size of the company, individual gin productions are nevertheless still made according to customer wishes. The pot still at the old location is available for this, which is otherwise used for testing purposes and new developments – such as the first Austrian BIO Hard Seltzer.

The World Class Distillery 2022 OBB (Distillery of the Year – Gold & World Spirits Award 2022), World Class Distillery 2022 GIWO (Distillery of the Year – Gold & World Spirits Award 2022) and First Class Distillery 2022 BILI collected, alongside double gold for Saffron infused Dry Gin (Spirit of the Year 2022) and Zwetschkenbrand (damson brandy) (World Spirits Award 2022 & Spirit of the Year 2022), a further nine gold medals and four times silver.

Diwisa – Craftsmanship & high-tech

Diwisa is a family business from Central Switzerland. Founded in 1918, it is now one of Europe’s most modern distilleries. Distilling takes place in the traditional copper vessels where craftsmanship is combined with high-tech elements. In addition to perfecting the product range and quality management process, the focus is on innovation and customer satisfaction with a 24-hour service on offer, all possible thanks to the streamlined structure, fast decision-making processes and unusually close proximity to the market. With an annual turnover of around 160 million francs in 32 countries, Diwisa is the number one on the Swiss spirits market.

‘The Swiss Factory’ combines tradition and high-tech under one roof. Each year, up to 8,000 tons of fresh fruit are processed at Switzerland’s largest must storage facility of 82 tanks. The ecological waste water treatment plant saves up to 100,000 litres of water per day – and is therefore Europe’s most modern distillery with a 50% energy recovery rating. 10,000 bottles pass through the high-tech filling process per hour.

Diwisa combines tradition and ‘jet-set’ under one roof with its broad product range. The fruit spirits from Original Willisauer added to a ‘Kafi Luz’ (coffee with fruit schnapps) are now a key feature of many traditional and cultural events. The diverse range of colours and flavours of TROJKA impress many partygoers while fans of premium products favour Xellent Swiss Vodka, Swiss Edelweiss Gin or Château du Breuil Calvados.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for the white Rum Escape 7 and Xellent Edelweiss Gin and silver for the Escape 7 Rum Anejo Reserva and La Valadiere Poire William.