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WOB Destillerie Wolfram Ortner: 35 years of perfection

This ‘crazy idea’ was launched in 1989 with the premiere of a diva dressed in raspberry-red. Wolfram Ortner has always been committed to fine fruit distillates and has produced them to uncompromising perfection. His penchant for wines matured in wooden barrels led to his first apple brandy being matured in French Limousin oak barrels in 1990. In 2000, apples from the Lavant Valley were stored in Allier, Limousin, Never and Trançais barrels. The first whiskies were produced in 1996, and in 2016 the series of six special rums, fermented with different yeasts and bottled from approx. 40% vol. to cask strength, was launched.

The handling of wood has been perfected over more than three decades, using different types of oak and degrees of toasting. Since 2013, the barrels are no longer toasted, but the wood has been heavily charred. This required significantly longer storage times for the products: Hefe 2014 (yeast) and Apfel 2015 (apple) were bottled at cask strength in 2024, while the Dark 1 and Dark 5 rums were also bottled after around ten years. 2013 also saw the start of the exciting development of recipes for ‘drugs’ made from dried herbs and spices.

On 25 November 2019, there was an explosion at the distillery, and it was not rebuilt. In spring 2024, the last barrels were emptied, twelve products were bottled and the stylish ‘FAP’ line (brandy, rum and whisky) was created. Two apple-wood brandies and a wine yeast-wood product were the fiery finale with the name ‘Omega’. Ortner’s passion hasn’t ended yet, as there are plenty of WOB Spirits in stock, available in the store and at www.wob.at.

At the World Spirits Award 2025, there was Double Gold for Apfel Barrique Never (apple), Gold for KGB Kräuter-Gewürz Bitter (bitters), Apfel Barrique Tronçais (apple), Apfel Barrique Limousin (apple) and Apfel Barrique Allier (apple), and Silver for Dark 5 and Dark 1.

Antonino Riggio - The Wonderful World of Plants

Antonino Riggio founded his company only in 2005; the business grew out of an extensive passion for lupins. The plant with its large, colourful flowers grows wild in Central Europe and elsewhere in the world, and they make a favourite meal for bees. Gardeners employ lupins to improve the soil, cattle farmers know them to be valuable fodder plants. The cultivated species are referred to as sweet lupins; they contain fewer alkaloids than their wild counterparts. The seeds, which contain almost 50% protein, would seem to provide a successful alternative to soy. Clinical studies have shown other positive medicinal effects; substances derived from lupins can protect cells and counteract cancer, as well as help control cholesterol levels.

Plant amateur Riggio followed this up with another innovative idea in 2006. He developed a bitter named "Ginseno", processed from ginseng, aromatic herbs and medicinal plants. Ginseno is available in different flavours; Naturale, Amabile, Alla Menta, and Alla Manna. The latter contains a sap extract from the Manna Ash (Fraxinus ornus), which grows in Madonie, a nature reserve near Castelbuono. The dried sap contains mannite, a sugar substitute also used in pharmacology.

In future, Riggio plans further Ginseno variants, flavoured with Agrumi di Sicilia (oranges and mandarins), almonds and cactus fruit. All products are labelled "APLCEFALU" which refers to their origin: the town of Cefalù on the Northern coast of Sicily.

The trip to Carinthia to the World Spirits Award paid off: the bitter Ginseno alla Manna received a gold medal.