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Svedka - Hot parties with a touch of cool Sweden

Where there is a party, there is Svedka - whether it be on Broadway, in Hollywood or in Berlin. The stars and starlets love this Swedish vodka: fans include Sting, Paris Hilton, Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzmann, Gwyneth Paltrow, Melanie Trump, Kate Moss and many more.

The secret behind the flavour of Svedka is rooted in centuries of Swedish tradition. High quality wheat forms the basis (1.5 kg per litre) which is then distilled five times. The process takes over 40 hours. The result is so smooth that it does not require filtering. The purest of spring waters are used in the master blending process. The result is a gentle freshness. Four flavoured vodkas are also offered in addition to the pure vodka: citron, clementine, raspberry and vanilla.

Svedka Vodka is the fastest growing Swedish brand of vodka worldwide. It was launched onto the market in 1998 and in 2007 was taken over by Constellation Brands together with its brand owner Spirits Marque One LLC, based in New York. In the USA, this cool Swedish vodka spread through the bars and nightclubs like wildfire, supported by a trendy advertising campaign entitled "Happy Hour in America" with slogans such as "Make Cocktails, not War", "Mix liberally, drink conservatively", "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happy Hour" and "Conserve Energy, drink sitting down". Futuristic cocktail recipes such as the "Peeping Android" and "2033" have also played a part. "2033" was chosen because Svedka has been "predicted" to be the most popular vodka in the world in that very year.

The products scored well at the World-Spirits Award: the "pure" vodka won a double gold and there was also gold for the "Clementine Flavored" and "Citron Flavored" as well as silver for the "Raspberry Flavored".

HeHo Distilling: The spirit of excellence

Born out of a moment of inspiration and with the idea of developing a modern aperitif, TIRÉH was created; a ‘handmade symphony of first-class vermouth and fine fruit brandies’. The golden colour and harmonious texture based on thirteen specially selected botanicals are the result of purely natural ingredients, without additives or colourants. The spirit originates in the southern part of the German Wine Route, where great importance is attached to the use of regional raw materials during production. The cuvée for the vermouth comes from vineyards in the Palatinate, a blend of Müller-Thurgau, Kerner and Scheurebe, matured in neutral wooden barrels. The botanicals include wormwood, hibiscus, lemongrass, chicory roots, rose petals and blackberry leaves. Having finalised the recipe, the first bottling in high-quality bottles followed in 2022. TIRÉH is best enjoyed neat on ice, as a spritz or with tonic water.

As part of the collaborative RETHINK MARKET ENTRY! project, TIRÉH Premium Aperitif emerged under the direction of Timo Holtappels, co-founder of the company, and René Heß, co-founder and lecturer at the Brand University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg. Strategies were developed for the market launch in Germany, from which they derived recommendations and concrete steps for further marketing activity. In other words, the modern approach matches the modern product. More on the various ideas and recipes can be found at https://tireh-aperitif.com.

TIRÉH Premium Aperitif won silver at the World Spirits Award.

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’.

Family of Hounds – Sought and found

Andrea Frigerio and his English wife, Lina, live in Monaco with their two dogs, Spot and Magda, two wonderful additions to the family. Since they started taking the two for walks in town, they have made many new friends. Andrea and Lina used to be red wine drinkers, who spent their holidays in the wine hills of Italy and France. It was only in 2013, while visiting a country estate in England, that they discovered their love for a good G & T. This developed into a passion, and their discussions soon revolved around what it would be like to create their own gin.

They tasted intensively, discarded aromas they didn’t like, and extracted the aromas they did. Together with the master distiller in an old distillery in Piedmont, they created their recipe for the gin: juniper, lemon and orange peel, pink grapefruit, lavender, thyme, cardamom, ginger and coriander. The first three ingredients come from Italy, the rest from Asia. “The juniper is really loud, like a brightly lit disco floor, and the other botanicals dance around it. Together, they are like a lively, attention-seeking dog that can’t sit still.”

In the future, they are looking to establish a small family of spirits, from gin to vodka and from grappa to vermouth – unmistakable in taste, but accessible to everyone. The core of the philosophy is going out with good friends, enjoying a good meal and even better spirits. The first step has already been taken …

At the World Spirits Award, there was double gold for Family of Hounds Gin.