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Edelbrennerei Friedl Mair – Fruit classics from a professional amateur distiller

In the small community of Flaurling in the Inn Valley, between Innsbruck and Telfs, lives a successful amateur distiller. He discovered his love of spirits over 25 years ago – and this has now become his great passion. Friedl Mair started out with a small licensed distillery which has been successively expanded and enlarged over the years. Investment in modern technology has given rise to a high quality bonded distillery. Further training and curiosity eventually transformed a hobby into a profession! Success did not take long to come and Friedl Mair is now the proud recipient of numerous awards for his products – as well as winning the Tyrol State Prize twice.

His product range of around 50 items is based on ripe, high quality fruit: from pip fruits (especially apples, pears and quince) to stone fruits (in particular damson and as a cigar brandy, apricot, cherry, sour cherry, sloe, greengage and Mirabelle plum) as well as berries (cranberry, rowanberry, elderberry, raspberry, jostaberry, strawberry and juniper berry), pomace and grape marc and specialities such as gentian, carrot and Jerusalem artichoke. Following processing and distillation in the distilling column, these ‘treats for the taste buds based on traditional Tyrolean fruit distilling’ are left to mature in glass balloons. The brandies are sold in hand-painted bottles and on request can be packaged in gift boxes and wooden boxes.

Participation in the World Spirits Award brought classification as a Master Class Distillery 2013. There was gold for the quince, berry cuvée and muscatel grape and silver for the Williams red and damson cuvée.

Modus-Vivendi -Small fruits with a big history

There are plenty of stories surrounding the history of damassine plum - small, violet fruits in the plum family. The botanical name of 'prunus damascena' is indicative of the probable origins of the fruit: Damascus in Syria. The Roman gourmet and most famous author of cook books in Antiquity, Marcus Gavius Apicius, praised the fruit in one recipe as a delicious accompaniment to lamb. It then found its way to Europe through the Duke of Anjou who discovered the fruits in around 1220 during a crusade to Jerusalem. During the Middle Ages, the trees grew predominantly in the gardens of the royal houses and parishes.

At the end of the 16th century, planting began on the South banks of Lake Biel in Switzerland and the Jura mountains seemed particularly suited to plum varieties. Harvesting damassine plums is very time-consuming and therefore they rarely come to market for fresh consumption. And their use in fine brandy has so far also only been of local significance. As they say in the Jura region: "A good meal without a glass of damassine brandy is like a day without sunshine".

The young Modus-Vivendi company in Biel has brought a new name and exclusive equipment to this 'historic distillate' in order to increase the product recognisability. The raw materials are provided by Roger Grimm and Adrian Eberhard, who planted hundreds of damassine shrubs in an ideal south-facing location in Luescherz, on the South banks of Lake Biel, from 2003 to 2008. The owner of Grillette Domaine De Cressier, J. P. Mürset, also represents a partner who has been heavily involved with the cultivation of damassine plums in Le Landeron since the 1990s.

This speciality product from the Swiss lakes region was awarded a bronze medal at its première at the World-Spirits Award.

Berentzen Group: 250 years of cultured distilled spirits

The Berentzen Group is a diverse beverage company for spirits, alcohol-free beverages and fresh juices. With over 250 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.

The Burgmannshof Korn has been available since November 2020, which serves the ongoing trend of the premiumisation of the traditional Korn (grain distillate) segment. Distilled at their own Hof Destillerie in Haselünne in Lower Saxony from 100% wheat, it is stored for six months at the historical 14th century Burgmannshof in French oak barrels. An unmistakable signature also characterises the Edelkorn Vom alten Fass Hof Edition, a double-distilled Korn from mature grain.

The premium liqueurs also present the tradition of high-quality spirits: Landlikör Zwetschge (damson liqueur), refined with fruit brandy, is characterised by a balanced sweetness. Landlikör Haselnuss (hazelnut liqueur) brings together full-bodied hazelnut distillate and finely distilled wheat grain. For the Tres Países Port Cask Finish rum, distillates from Central America and the Caribbean mature for up to eight years in a tropical climate. After the perfect blending, it is refined for a further six months in old port barrels, resulting in a mild and highly complex rum – a sensual invitation to the Caribbean.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for Burgmannshof Korn, Tres Países Port Cask Finish, Landlikör Haselnuss (hazelnut liqueur), Landlikör Zwetschge (damson liqueur) and Vom alten Fass Hof Edition, as well as bronze for Landlikör Birne (pear liqueur).