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Destillerie Hochstrasser: The art of distilling as an art of living

At the heart of the Lipizzaner homeland on the way to the Styrian Schilcher wine route lies the Hochstrasser distillery. There, the art of distillation has been passed on since 1930 and is now in its fourth generation. High-proof products of the highest quality are created by constantly developing, while taking into account traditional values. Those who are looking for excellent taste have come to the right place! As well as fine distillates and liqueurs, also top products such as gin and rum consistently achieve the highest international awards.

They were one of the first distilleries in Austria to work with vacuum distillation. This is a much gentler process than conventional distilling because a lower boiling point can be used. This enables preservation of the variety of natural aromas and promotion of fruit typicity.

Those who read understand, those who sample experience! On a personally guided experience tour through one of the largest and most modern distilleries in Europe, you gain insights into the production process, the storage in special barrels and the history of schnapps distilling. Visitors see the distilling procedure close up. A line-up of the fragrances also helps to identify the individual distillates by taste and smell. The tour is rounded off by a sampling in the showroom and salesroom, where one can find gifts and fine glass designs for every occasion alongside a varied product range.

The World Class Distillery 2025 received Double Gold for Rote Williamsbirne 100 % Vakuum-Destillat (red Williams pear brandy, 100% vacuum distillate) (Spirit of the Year 2025), and Gold for Waldhimbeerbrand 100 % Vakuum-Destillat (wild raspberry brandy, 100% vacuum distillate), Williamsbirnenbrand Select (Williams pear brandy), Steirischer Hauszwetschkenbrand (Styrian damson brandy) and Gravensteiner Apfelbrand (apple brandy).

Waldemar Behn: Unique spirits brands

The slogan ‘Kennen Sie den? Der ist von BEHN!’ (Do you know this one? It’s from BEHN!) is what made this family company from Eckernförde famous. In 1892, Waldemar Behn, son of a Hamburg beer brewer, established a retail store for beverages in Schleswig-Holstein. He initially supplied beer to workers building the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal, the present-day Kiel Canal. The product range was later extended to include non-alcoholic drinks and spirits of his own production for the catering trade. In 1906, Waldemar Behn bought the Eckernförder Dampfbierbrauerei brewery so that this Baltic resort of Eckernförde became the company headquarters, which it still is today.

After the Second World War, alongside running a specialised beverage wholesale trade, the company concentrated on producing branded items in the spirits sector, including typical products of the region, such as Germany’s most popular anise spirit ‘Küstennebel’, ‘Fischergeist’ and ‘Original Friesengeist’. Starting from the Northern Germany region, the Behn family company developed into a national and international provider with the brand ‘Kleiner Feigling’. With one of the world’s highest awarded cream liqueurs, ‘Dooley’s Original Toffee Liqueur’, the company finally achieved its international breakthrough which was solidified with the purchase of the brand ‘DANZKA Vodka’ in 2013. Today, Behn’s range of products consists of award-winning spirits brands that are available almost everywhere in the world.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Andalö Sea Buckthorn Liqueur, the aperitif of the northern summer.

Schwarze & Schlichte – Brand personalities from Westphalia

The family business Schwarze & Schlichte from Westphalia has been representing the highest quality spirits for the last 345 years with a distinct range of national specialities, regional traditional brands and successful international innovations. This top quality is based on a distilling tradition acquired over centuries which has been passed down over twelve generations. Even today, distilling and maceration still take place at the company’s own distillery where plenty of time and skill are invested. The selection and processing of the best raw materials and continuous control of the production process ensure a consistently high quality. One factor for success is the ongoing brand management in accordance with the specific requirements of the various brand personalities.

Three Sixty Vodka is one of the purest and mildest vodkas in the world. A fourfold distillation process ensures tangible softness and exceptional clarity while the purity of the vodka is all down to the time-consuming “Diamond Filtration” process: the finest filters are used, set with crystals like diamond dust, to remove even the smallest of suspended particles from the distillate. Even the packaging is unique: the facet-cut bottle of pure white shiny glass sets off this premium vodka to perfection. A black velvet label completes the sophisticated design.

The Grappa Bianca from Scavi & Ray is characterised by its full-bodied balanced flavour with powerful and intense aromas of marc. This crystal-clear brandy is soft and deliciously balanced thanks to the exquisite skill of the master distillery. The intense and fruity aroma is reminiscent of the sun-soaked vineyards in Italy.

Both products received a silver medal at the World-Spirits.

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’.