World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

ASM – Purist vodka from New Zealand

Artisan Spirits Merchants (ASM) was founded by Julian Moss in Sydney in 2004. Passion and perfectionism inspired him to develop an exceptional product: the purest vodka in the world.

The trice-distilled VDKA 6100, based on whey and spring water from New Zealand, was launched on the market in New York with the support of Robert De Niro. As an investor he was involved in the design, packaging, branding and positioning of VDKA 6100. Incidentally, there are 6,100 miles between New Zealand and the USA – hence the name! The elegance of VDKA 6100 comes down to the purity of the ingredients. This drop is gluten-free, sugar-free, lactose-free and free from chemical additives.

The company is striving to expand the impressive growth it has achieved in North America and in many other countries of the world. In order to cement its global focus and to utilise the potential of VDKA to the full, Asahi Premium Beverages has taken over the brand for the markets in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for VDKA 6100.

Walter Trausner: New beginnings with gin

Mr Trausner’s story begins at the start of the 1990s. After studying distillery and fermentation technology, he founded the Gasser-Trausner distillery in the Lungau region in the province of Salzburg, but was forced to close it less than ten years later. At the beginning of 2000, Walter Trausner and his wife, Eva, founded the ‘Trausners Genusswerkstatt’ factory and made a name for themselves with jams and sweets. In 2015, he invented ENZO Alpin, the world’s first soft drink made from gentian. Cordials soon followed, and then a second ENZO Alpin soft drink and two spirits: a bitter liqueur based on citrus fruit and gentian, and a London Dry Gin.

From 2019, Walter Trausner once again started to apply himself to the art of distillation and combined his experience with his usual perfectionist demands of the products. As well as gin, he also plans to distil single-variety grain distillates and whisky. Each kind of grain has its own particular taste – and this advantage is used to create a suitable distillate for each grain. The regional components also play a vital role, as the Lungau microclimate and pure mountain spring water offer ideal conditions for the maturing and mashing processes.

The first distillate from the Trausner company was a classic London Dry Gin made from wheat brandy, 23 botanicals and fresh organic bitter orange peel. The recipe dates back to 1997, when the distiller was one of the first in Austria to take a chance on what, at that time, was just a novelty: gin. He currently reinterprets old knowledge from monastery distilleries and produces liqueurs using an elaborate procedure – the basis are homemade grain spirits from local types of grain.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Lungaus Gentle Giant – New Single Malt, and silver for Lungaus Gentle Giant – Herb Liqueur and Lungaus Gentle Giant – APERO Liqueur.

Georg Hemmeter – XUXU, Escorial, SILLA EL FUERTE

Georg Hemmeter – strawberry drinks with exceptional flavour guaranteed

The name Georg Hemmeter – a company of the Underberg Group – stands for innovative spirits, in particular the XUXU range. The fresh and fruity strawberry drink contains 66 percent fruit plus crystal-clear vodka, rounded off with a dash of lime. The harmony between the sweetness of the fruit and just 15% alcohol by volume is created using a special production method. XUXU Ten, the little luxury in a 250 ml aluminium bottle with only 10% alcohol by volume, is dressed to party – it is still relatively new to the market, yet is already at home in all the world’s top party venues.
XUXU can be served in so many different ways: chilled, neat, on crushed ice, as a dessert topping, with sparkling wine or with other mixers – XUXU tastes heavenly and offers fresh and fruity pleasure. Welcome to Berrydise!

Initially the absolute top star in Greece, XUXU is now also number 1 in Russia, and extremely popular in Turkey and Italy too.


XUXU Strawberry & Vodka Drink and XUXU Ten won Gold at the World Spirits Award 2014.