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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.

Fallstein Destillerie: Modern traditionalists

“The sustainable handling of our resources and products is more than an alternative attitude to life – it is the pure spirit of the times that our family has been practising for nearly 200 years.” The organic enterprise on a listed farm in Rohrsheim in the Harzvorland region farms around 40 hectares of land in a variety of ways in accordance with natural land principles. Apart from crops and a five-hectare walnut plantation, there are also valuable meadow orchards with old fruit trees and bushes, whose harvest is especially suitable for being processed to distillates. The crops and fruit benefit from favourable climatic conditions and rolling slopes, as well as from the soil quality on the heat-retaining rock and minerals of the elevations between Elm and Harz. The homemade basic ingredients are used for high-quality delicatessen products such as various fruit spreads and edible oils, extracted by means of careful cold pressing – along with a variety of spirits.

Apart from the self-cultivated wheat, the clear water of the Harz springs is a significant component for an excellent mash. The ecologically cultivated botanicals, hand-picked according to family tradition, give the gin its special character during the distillation in a small batch procedure. When finding a name for organic quality whisky, Korn (grain schnapps) and gin, family tradition comes into play: they bear the first names of the founding father Carl Polland through to the youngest offspring Luca, Theo and Tom.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was awarded to TOMMYS Dry Gin (30 Botanicals), and silver to TOMMYS Barille New Western Dry Gin (32 Botanicals) and TOMMYS Craft Gin.