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Clint Wilfred & Sons – Good taste for rapidly expanding markets

Clint Wilfred & Sons Ltd brings a carefully selected portfolio of drinks to the Gulf region and Southeast Asia. The young company targets fast-moving products in the HORECA – Hotel/Restaurant/Café and Hotel/Restaurant/Catering market segment. It is run by Clint Wilfred, whose family has been in the spirit production and distribution business for over four decades.

One main focus of business activities lies in the United Arab Emirates. To offer new products on this rapidly growing market is a great challenge, as the demand for premium and niche products is constantly increasing and customers’ wishes are very diverse. The range, therefore, also includes non-alcoholic and carbonated soft drinks, still and sparkling water, ready-to-drink teas, energy sport drinks and other New Age drinks. There is also a strong focus on a wide selection of packaging sizes and formats.

One special product in the spirits product category is Count Cristo Blended Scotch Whisky, a premium blend with a high malt content from the Scottish Speyside region and with some lowland malt for added depth and character.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Count Cristo Blended Scotch Whisky.

Edward Snell – Whisky from South Africa

Edward Snell founded a trading company in Durban in 1848, from which the oldest spirit company in South Africa developed over 160 years. Following an eventful history, the company is now once again in the hands of the family. Besides their own brands they also sell numerous local and international drink brands, mostly in various markets in Africa and the Middle East.

The wide range of products includes whisky, brandy, vodka, rum, gin, tequila and cognac. One outstanding label is Firstwatch Whisky with its new look, a striking, square bottle design. Consumer demand for a whisky with an American taste profile has been perfected over time and is presented today as a balanced blend of the finest imported rye and grain. Whether pure, on the rocks or mixed – its diversity makes it popular with many different target groups and successful in one of the largest spirit segments in South Africa.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Firstwatch Whisky.

Sauerländer Edelbrennerei: From hobby to successful business

Fine brandies, spirits and liqueurs have been produced in Kallenhardt for the last 20 years. The product range has been rounded off by Thousand Mountains® Mc Raven Single Malt Whisky. What started out as a hobby has developed into a successful family business. Behind it all is epicurean and businessman, Ulrich Wolfkühler, and a trip to the southern German fruit distilleries towards the end of the 1990s. Some rather poor brandies led to the declaration “We can do better!” and the decision to build up a distillery with family friends, the Wolfkühler family and the Mülheims family, to create natural products without additives – by hand.

The adventure began by acquiring the distilling rights in the year 2000. Raw materials from the region were sourced and a well was built for extracting water of the best quality. They started with a 200-litre plant in a double garage, then, in April 2016, they transferred to a renovated old sawmill. The acquisition of a 1,200-litre pot still plant made the whisky dream come true. Since then, the future of the company has been shaped by a new 1,000-litre plant for fruit distillation and an extension for bottling, dispatch and bottle storage. An expansion of the visitors’ experience area is planned as well as a barrel storage area. Traditional artisanship is combined with innovation, passion, skill and patience. The team of three with the highest demands on quality and taste are a sign that the success story is just beginning.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Thousand Mountains Mc Raven Single Malt Whisky.

Pemberton Distillery - Power of potatoes

The fertile Pemberton Valley, an impressive area of natural beauty in British Columbia, is renowned for its potatoes. In the summer of 2002, the brothers Tyler and Jonathan Schramm were talking about what else could be made from these simple yet excellent raw materials at their small family farm, apart from seed and eating potatoes. And so they came across the ideal basis for vodka making: organic potatoes and glacier water from the region.

Tyler Schramm gained the technological expertise he needed during his studies at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He wrote his dissertation on vodka production and developed the original recipe for the "Schramm Vodka". Back in Canada, he went on to set up a distillery which the three brothers Tyler, Jonathan and Jake ran themselves during winter 2008 along with an energy-saving heating and cooling facility.

In spring 2009, the first attempts at distilling began. They used five types of potato which were processed unpeeled so as to retain the aromas - unlike the industrially produced "neutral-tasting" vodka. In July 2009, the first batch of vodka was produced and supplied in elegant bottles. It is the only certified organic vodka in the world made from potatoes and has been selected as the "Olympic Spirit" for the Winter Games of 2010 in Vancouver and Whistler. Of course, there are also plenty of plans for the future: in summer 2010, a single malt will be developed from organic cereal grains - using a careful hands-on process of course. This will then be stored in oak casks for five to ten years before being bottled.

The vodka certainly hit the mark at the World-Spirits Award: all the hard work paid off - the product was praised for being an "example we can all learn from" by the jury and was awarded two golds.