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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.

Rhumerie de Chamarel - Rhumerie de Chamarel – A newcomer with vision

This high-quality rum from the island of Mauritius is produced in line with ecological guidelines. The products are distributed in Austria by the company Wind GmbH, based in Traiskirchen (www.wind-plast.at).

The road leads through extensive pineapple plantations and fields of sugar cane up to the distillery at an altitude of 300 m in the South-West of the island. Designed by a renowned architect, the building is elegant and authentic and a fine example of modern construction with its natural materials such as wood, stone and water. The comprehensive concept also incorporates the L’Alchimiste restaurant where up to 80 guests can savour the sophisticated regional cuisine. At the “Sugar Cane Spirit” boutique, various types of rum are on offer (White Rum, Le Coeur de Chauffe (fine brandy), Rum Paille (stored in wooden casks), Rum Arrange (flavoured with fruits and spices) as well as an exclusive clothing range, hand-made products and a small jewellery collection.

The location and climate of the fertile valley promote the growth and quality of the sugarcane. The sugarcane is harvested by hand in the early hours of the morning and processed at the mill within four hours. The fields are not normally burnt, as is usually the case, to make harvesting easier. Even when distilling at the highest modern levels of technology, nothing is wasted: the bagasse – the fibrous remnants of the sugar production process – is burnt to obtain energy. The chimney contains the very latest smoke filters and the ash is used to fertilise the fields.

The company yet again impressed at the World-Spirits Award, with one gold and four silvers.

Kesselbrüder: World-first from Vienna

At the beginning of December 2018, Florian Koller, Thomas Tirmantinger and Achim Brock presented ‘Klimt Wien Gin’. They wanted a memorial for the Art Nouveau painter and to capture the way of life at the turn of the century in a bottle. “We have the philosophy, we have the ingenious product and we have the patron saint of the creative Viennese eroticism: Gustav Klimt.” This is how Achim Brock describes the idea behind the gin creation. Florian Koller continues: “Gustav Klimt represents the intellectual, charming, creative, deca-dent and erotic Vienna from the past and the modern day. We absolutely wanted to focus on that.” Thomas Tirmantinger enthuses on the effect of the superplants involved: “Lady’s mantle is one of our favourites, this plant that is indigenous to Europe has a relaxing effect on the female lower abdomen, the stinging nettle stimulates blood circulation in the genitals, and the superplant, the bishop’s cap cactus from Japan, increases libido and semen production in men.”

13 months of intensive product development were necessary to create the first ‘functional erotic gin in the world’. Eight highly dosed, strongly aphrodisiac botanicals were added to the basic recipe using a special mac-eration procedure whereby the gin gains in maturity, potency, expression and eroticism. The mostly indige-nous botanicals can be clearly recognised, produced in a special infusion procedure.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for Wien Gin and Klimt Wien Gin.

PUR ORGANIC PRODUCTS: Regional, pure and organic

Inspired and enlivened by the region and in harmony with nature, the Ackerl family has already been making organic vodka for eleven years. They use what grows in the Waldviertel region and what tastes good on its own, without needing any extra help: potatoes, rye and apples. All three have plenty in common and yet are very different on closer inspection. In the beginning there was the most neu-tral form, the potato vodka, followed a short time later by the fragrant apple vodka and the subtly sweet rye vodka. The name nørderd connects the regional origins – ‘nørd’ for north, the Waldviertel – and the origins of the raw ingredients – ‘erd’ for soil, where the potato grows. Distillation takes place in a distillery in the Weinviertel following the strictest organic guidelines, without flavour enhancers or other additives.

The brothers Gregor and Julian Ackerl, together with friend and managing director David Wais, con-tinue what their father, Hans Ackerl, began: the idea of offering organic vegetables in a form which would keep longer. And this is how the spirit of the Waldviertel is sent out into the world, with raw materials that are 100% organic, sustainable and grown regionally. Hans Ackerl already had an affini-ty for high-quality, organic fruit and vegetables more than 30 years ago, his farm was already organic in the early 1980s. Now, with nørderd, this is to be transformed into something that connects urban life with the countryside.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for nørderd Single Malt Vodka, and silver for nørderd Pure Potato Vodka and nørderd Pure Apple Vodka.