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Berentzen Group: 250 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 2025, there was Gold for Doornkaat Norden Sea Salt Gin and Tres Países Premium Rum.

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’.

ASM – Purist vodka from New Zealand

Artisan Spirits Merchants (ASM) was founded by Julian Moss in Sydney in 2004. Passion and perfectionism inspired him to develop an exceptional product: the purest vodka in the world.

The trice-distilled VDKA 6100, based on whey and spring water from New Zealand, was launched on the market in New York with the support of Robert De Niro. As an investor he was involved in the design, packaging, branding and positioning of VDKA 6100. Incidentally, there are 6,100 miles between New Zealand and the USA – hence the name! The elegance of VDKA 6100 comes down to the purity of the ingredients. This drop is gluten-free, sugar-free, lactose-free and free from chemical additives.

The company is striving to expand the impressive growth it has achieved in North America and in many other countries of the world. In order to cement its global focus and to utilise the potential of VDKA to the full, Asahi Premium Beverages has taken over the brand for the markets in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for VDKA 6100.

Bodega Najar: 170 years of aniseed perfection

With a history dating back to 1854, this Peruvian bodega can look back on a family history marked by resilience and entrepreneurship. It all started with Pedro Muñoz Najar, who came from Montilla with the Andalusian recipe for aniseed in his luggage. Over the years, he developed a handful of variations and perfected them all. His marriage to Manuela Villalobos led to the consolidation of the family business; the company was modernised and production diversified without compromising on quality. The recipe and production have remained unchanged since his big dream was realised.

The process begins in the laboratory with the inspection of the raw materials. As soon as the anise plant produces seeds, they are macerated and the aromatic and digestive components are extracted. Distillation is still carried out in French copper stills that are over 100 years old – the symbol of a company with remarkable endurance. In addition, there are two modern systems to make the process more efficient. For the traditional recipe, the ingredients are precisely dosed and the quality of the end product is checked at every stage, right through to bottling and labelling. This has created an undeniable competitiveness, which is an obvious advantage for being a leader in this field. Today, the bodega is a global reference for aniseed and is on the rise with its variety of products. What’s more, this traditional company is known for its expertise in artisanal production and is passionate about keeping its heritage alive.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Anis Najar Crema Especial, Anis Najar Café and Anis Najar 1854, and silver for Anis Najar Frutos Rojos.