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Destileria La Caravedo – Traditional products from Peru

The Destileria La Caravedo, founded by Juan Facundo Caravedo Roque in 1684, is said to be the oldest distillery in America. Located in the heart of the Andes, it is about three and a half hours away from Peru’s capital, Lima. These days, there is a high-tech distillery there, which combines technology, design and environmental awareness. The use of water and energy is reduced. Gravity is used for all steps of production, electric pumps are not used. The plants in the roof garden absorb carbon dioxide from the fermentation process and create oxygen. All this provides a sustainable background for a special product: Pisco Portón.

Traditional methods are paramount and much of the work has to be done by hand until a bottle is filled with the clear spirit. First come the grapes from the regional grape varieties Quebranta, Albilla and Torontel. The juice from the first pressing is fermented, but not completely, in order to retain some natural dextrose. After distillation in copper stills there follows a maturing period of up to twelve months until bottling, strictly controlled by the experienced master distiller, Johnny Schuler. With his signature on the numbered bottles he guarantees the purity and top quality of the Pisco Portón.

Pisco is a perfect partner for cocktails and mixed drinks. The name, by the way, comes from the harbour town in Peru from which the national drink was first exported. In the language of the Quechua Indians the word ‘pisco’ means ‘small bird’. The use of the term is regulated by law, from the grape varieties to distillation (without addition of water or flavours) and storage (no maturing in wood). The three main categories of Pisco are Puro (from one grape variety), Acholado (a blend) and Mosto Verde. In this highest quality, just like with Pisco Portón, only partly fermented juice is used.

Classified as a Recommended Distillery 2015, there was gold for Pisco Portón Mosto Verde Italia and silver for Pisco Portón Mosto Verde Quebranta and Pisco Mosto Verde Acholado.

Vesterhavsmost: Danish specialities made of apple cider

The TONOW Distillery is part of the family-run Vesterhavsmost & Laubjergs Planteskole in western Denmark, near the North Sea. This is where the family started with the cultivation of various berries and apples at the beginning of the 1980s, later they added plums, elderflower and walnuts. The distillery was first registered as a wine producer to be able to work with the raw material. All the fruits are processed into juices and spirits, from the fruit to the finished bottle, all at the same site.

Vesterhavsmost is much more than an apple plantation for juice production. The company focuses on monovarietal juices, from classics to new, intensive varieties, to preserve the characteristic taste and to emphasise the typical aromas. The apples are picked by hand and processed within two days. The dried pressed residue is used for bread, muesli and so on. Their own orchard allows full control of perfect quality. The marine climate ensures a long ripening time and plenty of natural acidity. The centrepiece of the production is a product range comprising Eau de Vie, barrel-matured brandies and liqueurs. TONOW® Eau de Vie is the result of distilling apple cider. They work with a Müller Aroma® distiller, which is perfectly suited to extracting the aroma profile. The raw spirit with 83 volume percent matures in steel tanks and is later reduced to 42 volume percent – with water from their own site with protected groundwater.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for TONOW® Eau de Vie Cox Holstein and Apple Liqueur (Pommeau).

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’.

Aldi Ireland: Gin and whiskey in retail

Aldi Ireland has several top products in its spirit range: Boyle’s Gin from the Blackwater Distillery and Ardfallen Whiskey from the West Cork Distillery, in addition, Mo Chara Passionfruit & Mango Gin from the Old Carrick Mill.

The Blackwater Distillery has been an Aldi partner since 2016 and developed the private label Boyle’s Gin exclusively for the Irish and British retail market. The product volume of the Blackwater Distillery for Aldi has risen strongly in recent years, whereby 140,800 bottles of the gin series were sold in 2018. The successful gin brand is manufactured in Blackwater Valley, West Waterford, with selected imported ingredients as well as regional apples, blackcurrants and elderflower. CEO Peter Mulryan – former TV producer and author of the book ‘The Whiskeys of Ireland’ – explains, “The partnership with Aldi has helped us to increase turnover enormously, and also to have the security to invest and expand. This includes on-site bottling facilities and a visitor centre.” Ardfallen Whiskey from the West Cork Distillery got its name from the region in County Cork where the malted barley comes from, and is only manufactured in small batches. The business was founded in 2003 by childhood friends who started out with only two small stills they had bought in Switzerland. Now the largest distillery in the country, it currently employs over 80 staff and exports to around 70 countries.

At the World Spirits Award, there was Gold for Ardfallen 10 Year Old Whiskey and Boyle’s Gin, and Silver for Boyle’s Sloe & Damson Gin and Ardfallen Whiskey.