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Edelbrennerei Armin Nachbaur: Experience and enjoy s' Kriasi

Fraxern is a mountain village in Vorarlberg with around 700 inhabitants. It is nestled on a sunny south-facing slope between Feldkirch and Dornbirn at around 900 metres above sea level. There is written evidence of the ‘Krisbeeren’, as cherries were called back then, as long ago as the 16th century. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, there were over 10,000 standard trees here, providing a considerable source of extra income for the farmers, as the fruit was in demand even in neighbouring Switzerland. In the year 2000, only 2,000 trees remained and today, there are maybe only 200 still in full production.

Heidi and Armin Nachbaur cultivate over 50 trees on two steep slopes facing the Rhine Valley as a sideline. Dug up as wildlings in the neighbouring forests, they were grafted with regional varieties of cherries used for distilling kirsch. The cherries are picked without stems using long wooden ladders. This process is called ‘mälka’, because the hand movement resembles that of milking a cow. For around two weeks, work is carried out from six in the morning until eight in the evening, with five to ten helpers from the village and the surrounding area. All of them work for free and have ‘grown up with the standard tree’. Depending on the year and the weather, three to five tons are harvested, which are all refined in the in-house distillery. Customers can learn on site about the cultivation, varieties and care of the trees as well as their harvesting and processing. This means that the consumer can enjoy a regional, high-quality product whose production can be traced sip by sip. The maintenance of the standard trees is intended to keep the tradition alive in the municipality and make a small contribution to the preservation of a unique cultivated landscape.

Hochstamm Kirsche won gold at the World Spirits Award.

Shede Spirits: Spirit of China

Shede Founder’s Tribute is the result of a partnership between Camus International and the Chinese spirits manufacturer Shede Spirits, a leading company in the premium Baijiu segment. Production takes place in the southern Chinese province of Sichuan, in a well-maintained ecology park where the traditional Tai’An workshop is located, a part of Chinese culinary heritage – the oldest fermenting pits date back to the Ming Dynasty.

Cyril Camus lived in China in the middle of the 1990s, where he got to know Baijiu. Convinced of the potential of the ‘national spirit’, he launched Kweichow Moutai on the market. The search for new taste profiles signified the birth of the brand ‘Spirit of China’ and Shede was chosen – Founder’s Tribute is its international debut.

In the selection of the raw ingredients – sorghum, rice, sticky rice, wheat, barley and maize – sorghum, the main component, provides the characteristic aroma while the others add complexity and round it off. After the harvest, the grain is steeped and steamed with hot water to open the husk. After cooling, qu is added to aid in fermentation. Fresh grains are pressed into bricks with qu and stored in warm cellars, where microbial cultures flourish. After the fermentation, the grains are removed in layers and distilled by steaming. The basic spirit matures in terracotta containers and is then mixed with 15-year-old vintage Baijiu. In accordance with the principle of ‘sacrifice to gain’, 98% of the raw distillate is sacrificed to preserve the essential 2%. The largest reserve of premium Baijiu in the world is stored in the maturation cellars – over 120,000 tons.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was awarded to Sichuan Strong Aroma Baijiu – Shede Founder’s Tribute.

Bimmerle: Know-how meets regionality and trend awareness

At the production site in the Black Forest town of Sasbach, which was opened in 2015, this family business sets innovative standards in technology, sustainability and environmental protection. For the last five decades, Bimmerle has strived for the highest quality, with focussed know-how, modern high-tech and the traditional art of distilling. This is the first distillery in Germany where all the heating requirements and power generation are covered by the burning of fruit stones combined with woodchips from the region.

In Germany and on the European market, Bimmerle is a leader in the fruit brandies sector with the Lörch brand. In order to make the ‘playground’ more interesting, the brand identity was modernised in 2024 and will be extended in 2025 by a fruit brandy range matured in wooden casks. Needle Black Forest Gin is among the top 5 most widely sold gins in Germany. The portfolio has been expanded since 2018 with WOOD STORK Spiced Rum and the EVERMANN Black Forest whiskies Theo & Wilhelm introduced in 2022. The Black Forest distillery has enriched the liqueur and aperitif market with as many as five exciting creations under the DON PASQUALE brand.

The World Class Distillery 2025 & Distillery of the Year 2025 – Bronze (Bitters & Liqueurs) received Gold for Don Pasquale Limoncello Liqueur, Zünftler Waldhimbeergeist (wild raspberry spirit), Wood Stork Spiced Rum, Lörch Waldhimbeergeist (wild raspberry spirit), Lörch Vanillekipferl Sahnelikör (vanilla cream liqueur), Needle Gin Green, Don Pasquale Aperitif Bitter Liqueur, Don Pasquale Espresso Martini Liqueur, Don Pasquale Hazelnut Liqueur and Lörch Linzertorte Sahnelikör (Linzer tart cream liqueur). Silver was awarded to Kronenhof Alter Williams Christ Birnenbrand (pear brandy), Lörch Alte Williams Christ Birne (pear brandy), Zinselhof Alter Williams Christ Birnenbrand (pear brandy), Lörch Altes Schwarzwälder Zwetschgenwasser (damson spirit), Needle Blackforest Distilled Dry Gin, Needle Gin Rosé, Don Pasquale Pistachio Cream Liqueur, Lörch Bratapfel Sahnelikör (baked apple cream liqueur), Zünftler Alte Williams Christ Birne (pear brandy), Lörch Williams Spirituose im Holzfass gelagert (pear spirit aged in a wooden cask) and Lörch Marille Spirituose im Holzfass gelagert (apricot spirit aged in a wooden cask), and Bronze to Lörch Obst Spirituose im Holzfass gelagert (fruit spirit aged in a wooden cask).