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Berentzen Group: 260 years of cultured distilled spirits

Berentzen Group is an innovative beverage company that boasts a wide portfolio and develops, produces and markets varied and fashionable drinks concepts. The portfolio includes spirits, alcohol-free beverages and fresh juices. With over 260 years of experience, they are one of the oldest national manufacturers of spirits and have a market presence in over 60 countries to date, with brands such as Berentzen and Puschkin as well as reasonably priced private label products.

In April 2023, Norden Sea Salt Gin was launched on the German market under the Doornkaat brand. It is a speciality on the gin shelf, as selected North Sea botanicals create an extraordinary and intense taste experience: juniper provides the spice, sea buckthorn and rosehip the fruity tartness. Norden Sea Salt Gin is rounded off with a pinch of sea salt. This spirit spreads the genuine nature and authenticity of the North Sea coast throughout Germany. It is versatile and can be enjoyed neat, on ice or mixed as a long drink or cocktail.

Tres Países Premium Rum combines distillates from Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic. After being stored for up to eight years in American white oak bourbon casks, they come to Europe for refinement by the master blender. The characteristics of the countries provide the taste profile: vanilla and butterscotch, elegant fruit, banana and chocolate. It is also available in a port cask finish, which is refined in aged casks for another six months.

At the World Spirits Award 2026, there was Gold for Tres Países Premium Rum and Silver for Doornkaat Norden Sea Salt Gin.

Clint Wilfred & Sons – Good taste for rapidly expanding markets

Clint Wilfred & Sons Ltd brings a carefully selected portfolio of drinks to the Gulf region and Southeast Asia. The young company targets fast-moving products in the HORECA – Hotel/Restaurant/Café and Hotel/Restaurant/Catering market segment. It is run by Clint Wilfred, whose family has been in the spirit production and distribution business for over four decades.

One main focus of business activities lies in the United Arab Emirates. To offer new products on this rapidly growing market is a great challenge, as the demand for premium and niche products is constantly increasing and customers’ wishes are very diverse. The range, therefore, also includes non-alcoholic and carbonated soft drinks, still and sparkling water, ready-to-drink teas, energy sport drinks and other New Age drinks. There is also a strong focus on a wide selection of packaging sizes and formats.

One special product in the spirits product category is Count Cristo Blended Scotch Whisky, a premium blend with a high malt content from the Scottish Speyside region and with some lowland malt for added depth and character.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Count Cristo Blended Scotch Whisky.

WoifGin: Sustainability and organic certification

Markus Peherstorfer has been refining the family tradition of distilling in his Waldviertel hometown and experimenting with it himself for years. His initial results were good but lacking focus. Then, in 2020, his good friend and neighbour Hubert Krenn asked him why he didn’t want to do ‘something proper’. Over the course of a long night of discussion, the idea for a Waldviertel Premium London Dry Gin was born. After long experimentation with a two-litre mini distillery, he had finally created something excellent. This is how the Woif brand originated, with the focus on something special right from the start: a quality product with an unusual name and the development of an organic line.

After converting the stables on his parents’ farm into a tasting room, the ‘Woifshöhle’, and its opening in September 2021, things happened quickly: WoifGin GmbH was founded at the beginning of December 2021, events were attended, marketing was driven forward, the online store was opened and more. There was already great success in the first year when ‘Das goldene Stamperl’ won Bronze at the Destillata and became the Lower Austrian regional champion. These accolades drove the development of further gin variants. The results are LuXX (with notes of lemon, lavender and lemon balm) and FiNK (sloe gin with the aroma of sloe harvested after the frost) as well as the cocktail punch creation NEPoLUXX (turmeric, ginger and more). WoifGin has been certified organic since February 2022, followed by LuXX in May. All ingredients come from controlled organic cultivation by regional partner companies. This sustainability strategy is an essential part of the corporate philosophy.

At the World Spirits Award, there was Gold for Luxx Waldviertler Premium BIO Gin and Woif Waldviertler Premium BIO Gin London Dry, and Bronze for FiNK Waldviertler Premium BIO SLOE Gin.

ERBER Edelbrände: Tyrolean appreciation and a celebration of fine distillates

For over 350 years, high-quality fine brandies, schnapps, spirits and liqueurs have been handmade from various kinds of fruit at Erber in Brixen im Thale. For an original Tyrolean fine brandy or Tyrolean schnapps, only hand-selected and fully ripened fruits of the best quality are processed in the oldest copper still distillery in Tyrol. Double distilled, diluted with their own spring water and some stored in wooden barrels, Erber fine brandies and schnapps are part of a traditional Tyrolean love of fine things.

The record of success: Master Class Distillery and Master Class Distillery with double gold for Tiroler Jagertee, gold for Blackcurrant Brandy, Wurzler, Süßwurzler, Brixx43 Gin, Old Rye Brandy (wood), Old Plum Brandy, Old Mirabelle Brandy, Muscatel Grape Brandy, Plum Brandy, Rowanberry Schnapps and Damson Fruit Liqueur, and silver for Williams Pear Schnapps, Coffee Spirit, Mirabelle Brandy, Rose Apricot, Tiroler Zirbener (stone pine) and Tiroler Nusseler (nut).