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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’.

Akakiko Restaurant-Entwicklungs GmbH: Exclusive Asian-style liqueur

With over 30 years of experience, Akakiko is the largest and most successful Japanese restaurant chain in Austria and the best-known brand for Asian gastronomy. When Akakiko was founded in 1994, sushi and pan-Asian cuisine were still something out of the ordinary. The first restaurant in the then newly opened Multiplex Center in Shopping City Süd presented a new gastronomy concept: freshly cooked food with high-quality ingredients, a wide range of specialities and handmade sushi. The new brand appeared under the artificial word Akakiko, which is reminiscent of Japanese. Today, there are 18 branches throughout Austria with a total of 250 employees. Most of them are first or second generation migrants from 15 countries and bring with them different experiences and culinary preferences and expertise. The philosophy is the same in every restaurant: customers can see the cleanliness and hygiene at first hand in numerous open-view kitchens. Fresh ingredients and good products are processed imaginatively. With promotions throughout the year, the focus is always on setting new priorities and surprising guests with new Asian gourmet ideas.

In collaboration with world liqueur champion Gautier-Mückstein, an exclusive Japanese yuzu liqueur was created for the anniversary, combining the refreshing vibrancy of citrus fruits with a sweet surprise.

Yuzucello won gold at the World Spirits Award.