World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

MBG International Premium Brands – Brands with added value

“We Love Liquids.” This slogan has accompanied MBG on its worldwide path of success since it was founded in 1993 under the name P.O.S. Marketing + Vertrieb GmbH: Strong brands have been established around the world in nearly 60 countries, with innovative own brands, renowned retail brands, great ideas and a lot of energy. With over 250 employees, the MBG Group currently generates over € 200 million and, every year, more than a million hectolitres are produced. The portfolio in Germany includes 12 own brands and 6 retail brands (from non-alcoholic drinks to low proof drinks to wines & spirits) for 90,000 customers.

“Our recipe for successful brands is the mixture of passion, conviction and knowledge of the market. If all goes well, names and products become new worlds which consumers love. Success is not always predictable, which means that courage is needed above all. The right moment has to be found and hard work put in, just like with a hit single: some are one hit wonders while others become classics.” Little can be added to this definition from Managing Director Andreas W. Herb. From the MBG Group headquarters in Paderborn, a great deal of expertise makes successful brands, tailored to the respective target group and the market segment. Many brands that are well known on shop shelves and in the gastronomy sector have played a role in the history of the company.

Participation in the World Spirits Award yielded gold for Dos Mas Nasty Nuts Shot.

Feindestillerie STELZL – Aromatic diversity from southern Styria

The Stelzl family estate was mentioned in the chronicles of the southern Styrian village of St. Johann im Saggautal as long ago as the 17th century. Since 1842 the family – now already in the sixth generation – has been engaged in wine and fruit-growing and farming on nearby Mount Eichberg. The area is also referred to as the ‘gateway to southern Styria’s vineyards’ and has a favourable climate, especially in spring and autumn.

Franz Stelzl is proud to have been able to offer his customers first-class, high-quality products for decades. Sun-ripened fruits from the region lay the foundation for the production of these high-quality fine brandies and liqueurs. The distillery offers three categories: In the foreground there are aquavits for grappa lovers (crystal-clear or barrel-matured pomace brandy, but also fruity and spicy spirit variations with strawberries, sour cherries, almonds or herbs). For cognac lovers there is a matured brandy from the barrique, and for lovers of fruit distillates there are double-distilled spirits from apricot, Williams pear and garden damson, as well as the classic fruit brandies from apple and pear. The icing on the cake is a Kranewitter (juniper schnapps for gin fans) in the old Styrian style.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Acquavite Chardonnay Trester, and silver for Acquavite Gelber Muskateller Trester.

Ländle Schnaps: Gin and whisky from the ‘Schnapshüsle’ at Höchst

Hubert Fink, a distiller from Höchst in the Rhine delta at Lake Constance, started to manufacture gin, whisky and fine brandies years ago. The fruit comes from the surrounding meadow orchards, while the Vorarlberg maize for the whisky is cultivated by the family on small fields. What started as a hobby has become a top-notch little enterprise where everybody lends a helping hand. Every bottle is filled and labelled by hand with attention to detail. The products can be sampled and purchased at the ‘Schnapshüsle’ next to the old Rhine Valley house where the family lives.

In 2015, Hubert Fink started experimenting with his own gin. Many hours and many distillates later, Ländle Dry Gin was ready for its market launch. It is set with the best species and highly aromatic juniper berries for an exact time period, then distilled carefully once again and finally refined with the purest spring water from a Vorarlberg mountain spring. It is put to market in a distinctive white clay bottle with a label that looks like old wood.

The whisky is the latest product in the range, for which an old local type of maize was sown, cultivated, harvested, husked and tied together for drying by hand, ground with a little mill and mashed. It was stored for five years in oak barrels specially imported from America and then, just like the gin, filled into striking, non-fading clay bottles. It is scarcely possible to do more by hand.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Ländle Dry Gin, and silver for Ländle Whisky.