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Schwarze & Schlichte – Brand personalities from Westphalia

The family business Schwarze & Schlichte from Westphalia has been representing the highest quality spirits for the last 345 years with a distinct range of national specialities, regional traditional brands and successful international innovations. This top quality is based on a distilling tradition acquired over centuries which has been passed down over twelve generations. Even today, distilling and maceration still take place at the company’s own distillery where plenty of time and skill are invested. The selection and processing of the best raw materials and continuous control of the production process ensure a consistently high quality. One factor for success is the ongoing brand management in accordance with the specific requirements of the various brand personalities.

Three Sixty Vodka is one of the purest and mildest vodkas in the world. A fourfold distillation process ensures tangible softness and exceptional clarity while the purity of the vodka is all down to the time-consuming “Diamond Filtration” process: the finest filters are used, set with crystals like diamond dust, to remove even the smallest of suspended particles from the distillate. Even the packaging is unique: the facet-cut bottle of pure white shiny glass sets off this premium vodka to perfection. A black velvet label completes the sophisticated design.

The Grappa Bianca from Scavi & Ray is characterised by its full-bodied balanced flavour with powerful and intense aromas of marc. This crystal-clear brandy is soft and deliciously balanced thanks to the exquisite skill of the master distillery. The intense and fruity aroma is reminiscent of the sun-soaked vineyards in Italy.

Both products received a silver medal at the World-Spirits.

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’.

Windspiel: From the field to the bottle

At the Weilerhof farm in the Vulkaneifel region, Sandra Wimmeler and Denis Lönnendonker grow the pota-toes for their down-to-earth spirit, which is all produced by hand: from sorting to attaching the ribbons to the gold ring on the bottleneck. After the harvest, the potatoes are carefully washed, finely ground, added to drinking water and worked into a pumpable paste. This is heated to destroy any germs, and the transfor-mation from starch to sugar begins. After slowly being cooled down, a special yeast is added and the mash ferments in a tank. After three rounds of distillation, the basis for all the products is finished – an alcohol with a delicate mildness and characteristic potato note.

For the Premium Dry Gin juniper, lemon peel, coriander, lavender blossoms, ginger and cinnamon are added (the rest remains a secret). The Reserve is stored for many months in oak barrels and is exceptionally mild with its 50 percent alcohol by volume – perfect for enjoying on the rocks. The Navy Strength with 57 percent alcohol by volume is rounded off by ingredients from the routes of the colonial rulers from the past. For the Sloe Gin, hand-selected sloes from the Eifel region are preserved in 70 percent Premium Dry Gin, before the macerate is mixed with the 47 percent gin, sloe juice and sugar. The 30 percent juice adds a subtle sweetness to the bitter note – an ideal sundowner. The product range is completed by barrel matured vodka and a herb spirit.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Windspiel Premium Dry Gin, Windspiel Premium Dry Gin Navy Strength, Windspiel Premium Sloe Gin and Windspiel Premium Dry Gin Reserve.

BBerryshka: Juniper specialities from Slovenia

In the 1950s, the Novo Mesto forestry enterprise started to produce essential oils from fir trees. At the start of the 1990s, the Kenda family took over the old distillery and specialised in the manufacturing of essential oils from juniper berries. The renovation of the distillery allowed the widening of the product range. Logical conclusion: when a lot of juniper berries are available, other products can also be realised, especially juniper brandy and gin. With a selector that works with high-speed cameras and compressed air, the berries are selected according to their colour and shape, the cleaner removes impurities such as needles, twigs, insects, dust, etc. and sorts the berries according to size. Then, a mill breaks them down into a fine grain, and in the dryer the humidity level is set for various purposes.

The London Dry Gin was one of the first of its kind in Slovenia and the juniper brandy that is made only from fermented berries matures for three years in oak barrels. Today all the products have organic certification, which additionally ensures the quality of the raw ingredients. Apart from juniper spirits, the product range comprises fruit liqueurs and soon also the first Slovenian whisky. In addition, handmade chocolates are produced, as the family enterprise owns a chocolaterie. It is on account of this that many visitors come to the little town of Obrh to get to know the variety of products.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was awarded to Berryshka Purfl Blue Gin and Berryshka Bio Brinjevec, and silver to Berryshka London Dry Gin, Berryshka Gin'N Berry and Berryshka Staran Brinjevec.