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Roust Hungary: Affordable luxury on the spirits market

Roust was founded in 1992 by the Russian businessman Roustam Tariko and quickly developed into a leading business group in the sale of premium spirits brands. One of the world’s leading vodka producers, the company is present in more than 80 countries. Roust owns production plants and distribution centres in Hungary, Russia and Italy. The comprehensive portfolio includes the flagship vodka brands of Russian Standard, Green Mark, Parliament and Zhuravli.

Thanks to its extensive knowledge in sales and marketing and its commitment to responsible alcohol consumption, Roust Hungary has become the leading supplier on the domestic spirits market. The largest premium spirits company in Hungary also sells the Royal, Zubrówka, Russian Standard, Gancia, Grants, Jägermeister and Metaxa brands.

For years, Royal Vodka has maintained its position as the most popular and well-known vodka brand in Hungary, and also remains market leader in terms of volume and turnover. Royal Vodka is produced using natural ingredients, from the grain to the well water, which contributes to its mild taste.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Royal Original Vodka, and bronze for Royal Raspberry Liqueur.

Pap és Pap – Family business with a burning passion

At the end of 2009, a dream came true for Szabolcs, Marcella and Gergely Pap – they opened their own family distillery in Etyek in the wine-growing region of the same name, some 30 km from Budapest. The small team of six manages one of the country’s most modern quality distilleries. The choice of the family coat-of-arms as the company logo symbolises the strong family ties. The production process is characterised by its regional roots and the distinctive flavour of the fruits, most of which they grow themselves. The product range comprises apple, elderberry, cherry, apricot, Williams pear, raspberry, sour cherry, peach, strawberry, blackberry, plum and grape. The products can be sampled following a tour of the plant in the new tasting cellar which holds up to 60 people.

The fresh fruits are delivered by the lorry load and are stored in the cellars where they are protected from the sunshine, rain, wind and dust before being processed just a few hours later. All of the production stages take place underground in rooms protected from temperature fluctuations, with the exception of the distilling. The fruits are washed and the cores, stems, stalks and leaves removed before being machine-chopped and pumped into an acid-proof agitator tank for the homogenisation process to begin. From this point onwards, they no longer come into contact with human hands. Following cooled fermentation in steel tanks, the substance is distilled in a technologically sophisticated plant. The fine distillate is stored in a tank for six months while special varieties are stored in wooden barrels made from various woods.

At the World Spirits Award, Pap was classified as a Master Class Distillery 2012. There was gold for the Apple Mutzu (2 x), Grape Irsai Olivér, Plum, Apricot (2 x) and Blackberry. Silver medals were awarded to the Apple Jona Gold, Grape Szürkebarát (2 x), Plum (2 x), Pear Williams Yellow (3 x), Strawberry and Black Elderberry (2 x). Bronze went to the Apple Jona Gold, Cherry Sour and Raspberry.

Edelbrennerei Armin Nachbaur: Experience and enjoy s' Kriasi

Fraxern is a mountain village in Vorarlberg with around 700 inhabitants. It is nestled on a sunny south-facing slope between Feldkirch and Dornbirn at around 900 metres above sea level. There is written evidence of the ‘Krisbeeren’, as cherries were called back then, as long ago as the 16th century. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, there were over 10,000 standard trees here, providing a considerable source of extra income for the farmers, as the fruit was in demand even in neighbouring Switzerland. In the year 2000, only 2,000 trees remained and today, there are maybe only 200 still in full production.

Heidi and Armin Nachbaur cultivate over 50 trees on two steep slopes facing the Rhine Valley as a sideline. Dug up as wildlings in the neighbouring forests, they were grafted with regional varieties of cherries used for distilling kirsch. The cherries are picked without stems using long wooden ladders. This process is called ‘mälka’, because the hand movement resembles that of milking a cow. For around two weeks, work is carried out from six in the morning until eight in the evening, with five to ten helpers from the village and the surrounding area. All of them work for free and have ‘grown up with the standard tree’. Depending on the year and the weather, three to five tons are harvested, which are all refined in the in-house distillery. Customers can learn on site about the cultivation, varieties and care of the trees as well as their harvesting and processing. This means that the consumer can enjoy a regional, high-quality product whose production can be traced sip by sip. The maintenance of the standard trees is intended to keep the tradition alive in the municipality and make a small contribution to the preservation of a unique cultivated landscape.

Hochstamm Kirsche won gold at the World Spirits Award.