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Excelencia Tequilera de Jalisco: From Mexico to the rest of the world

Tequila Huizache is a homage to the Mexican region of Jalisco, which is famous for the manufacture of agave distillates and also where the roots of the company lie. The Huizache bush (Acacia farnesiana) is abundant in the dry landscape and has been traditionally used for medicinal purposes by the indigenous peoples of Mexico, who believe the plant to be holy. The name means ‘many thorns’ and is a symbol for the strength and resilience of the countryside and the people who live and work here.

Once the Spanish conquerors had recognised the value of the agave plant in the 16th century and introduced European knowledge about the art of distillation, the region – today a UNESCO world heritage site, incidentally – became the main producer of tequila, which was distributed from here to the rest of Mexico. In 1870, Tequila Herradura SA de CV was founded and, over time, developed to become one of the biggest brands. In the late 1990s, the sisters Luz Gabriela and María Elisa Romo de la Peña decided to sell their stakes in the company and take over the plantations. In 2003, they founded the Excelencia Tequilera de Jalisco and specialised in the production of 100% agave premium tequila. The top brand Tequila Huizache was introduced in 2005 and opened a new chapter in the success story, which spans six generations with almost 150 years of experience.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Huizache Blanco, Huizache Reposado and Huizache Origen.

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’.

2B Hemp Gin: Styrian gin experience

Two visionaries, Armin Breinl (doctor, drink creator, musician) and Wolfgang Thomann (gin maker), have created a completely new gin experience with real hemp powder: 2B HEMP GIN (inspired by AEIJST). On 17th November 2018, the two invited guests to the first tasting of 2B HEMP GIN in the AEIJST GIN distillery in St. Nikolai in the Sausal Valley.

Made from organic juniper berries, this innovative gin has an impressive, mild and fruity taste and a typical hemp note. Due to its unique aroma, it not only tastes good neat, but also creates a ‘wow’ effect in cocktails – as proven in the long drink Styrian Pale Gin AEIJST refined with 2B HEMP.

For thousands of years, hemp has been grown as a valuable plant, be it for rope, fabric, paper or as an active ingredient in ointments and tinctures. Hemp has always been highly valued for its medicinal properties, yet recently has been demonised as an addictive drug and has suffered under its ensuing prohibition, originating in the USA. These days hemp is regaining importance and is being used more as a luxury food as well as in medicine as a therapeutic agent.

The Lifestyle Trading company, run by Armin Breinl, is an innovative beverage producer, which is already known amongst trade professionals for its sugar-free ‘func- tional fruit drinks’. The drinks have a high fruit content (more than 50 per cent) and additional natural, vital substances and have an energising, relaxing and regenerative effect.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for 2B HEMP GIN.