World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

Clint Wilfred & Sons – Good taste for rapidly expanding markets

Clint Wilfred & Sons Ltd brings a carefully selected portfolio of drinks to the Gulf region and Southeast Asia. The young company targets fast-moving products in the HORECA – Hotel/Restaurant/Café and Hotel/Restaurant/Catering market segment. It is run by Clint Wilfred, whose family has been in the spirit production and distribution business for over four decades.

One main focus of business activities lies in the United Arab Emirates. To offer new products on this rapidly growing market is a great challenge, as the demand for premium and niche products is constantly increasing and customers’ wishes are very diverse. The range, therefore, also includes non-alcoholic and carbonated soft drinks, still and sparkling water, ready-to-drink teas, energy sport drinks and other New Age drinks. There is also a strong focus on a wide selection of packaging sizes and formats.

One special product in the spirits product category is Count Cristo Blended Scotch Whisky, a premium blend with a high malt content from the Scottish Speyside region and with some lowland malt for added depth and character.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Count Cristo Blended Scotch Whisky.

Georg Hemmeter – XUXU, Escorial, SILLA EL FUERTE

Georg Hemmeter – strawberry drinks with exceptional flavour guaranteed

The name Georg Hemmeter – a company of the Underberg Group – stands for innovative spirits, in particular the XUXU range. The fresh and fruity strawberry drink contains 66 percent fruit plus crystal-clear vodka, rounded off with a dash of lime. The harmony between the sweetness of the fruit and just 15% alcohol by volume is created using a special production method. XUXU Ten, the little luxury in a 250 ml aluminium bottle with only 10% alcohol by volume, is dressed to party – it is still relatively new to the market, yet is already at home in all the world’s top party venues.
XUXU can be served in so many different ways: chilled, neat, on crushed ice, as a dessert topping, with sparkling wine or with other mixers – XUXU tastes heavenly and offers fresh and fruity pleasure. Welcome to Berrydise!

Initially the absolute top star in Greece, XUXU is now also number 1 in Russia, and extremely popular in Turkey and Italy too.


XUXU Strawberry & Vodka Drink and XUXU Ten won Gold at the World Spirits Award 2014.

Avatea: Renaissance of an exceptional product

Arue is a French municipality with around 10,000 inhabitants in the northeast of Tahiti in the overseas territory of French Polynesia. The first pure rum is distilled and bottled here as the result of a research project. It took almost six years to track down the traditional sugar cane varieties and start to grow them again on virgin land. The Avatea company, based in the town of Paea, provided the know-how, namely twenty years of experience in the distillation of spirits. The rather satisfying result is Mana’o Tahiti rum, whose name means ‘to think of’ or ‘remember’ something in the local language, Reo. It is a tribute to the rediscovered raw materials, which today are organically farmed.

Mana’o is a prime press rum based on a single uninterrupted initial process. The sugar cane stalks are cut early in the morning while it is still cool and immediately transported to the mill and crushed without the addition of water. The resulting juice is filtered and fermented on site by adding organic yeast, reaching five percent by volume after five days. Further processing takes place in Paea, where the product is distilled and only the heart is left to mature. The cask strength of 89 percent by volume is gradually reduced to 60 percent to ensure that the fine aromas are preserved. This is followed by at least six months of ageing in 3,000-litre stainless steel tanks. The selected distillates are then sent to Rangiroa atoll to mature further in French oak barrels under the influence of the sea air.

At the World Spirits Award 2025, there was Double Gold for Mana’o Rangiroa and Mana’o Tahiti Blanc, and Gold for Mana’o Tahiti Paille.

Heidebrennerei Bosselmann: Chemist and botanist, hunter and gatherer

The Heidebrennerei Distillery lies amidst the Luneburg Heath at the gateway to Hamburg. All their botanicals grow in the immediate vicinity in the largest heather biosphere reserve amidst moors and the 4,000-year-old burial mounds that characterise this rough landscape. The basis of their range is always formed by a strong hint of juniper, rounded off with a fruity body of sloe, wild blackberries and cranberries. The fresh citrus flavour of the Heidegin (heath gin) is provided by lemon balm, lemon verbena and fresh Douglas fir. Further botanicals include juniper branches and heather.

Gerhard Bosselmann and two herb ladies – the heart of the distillery – gather many ingredients themselves. Nearly all the botanicals are ground by hand to best release the essential oils. The mash is processed in stages over 72 hours and the distilling process ends at 40% to ensure an optimal taste. The gin is always unfiltered. Barrel Aged Gin is a speciality for which previously used oak and chestnut barrels are utilised.

The softest water from sources under filtering moors and sand dunes is guided over rose quartz and semi-precious stones after an ion exchange to relax it. “The distillery is a 120-litre facility, we produce the smallest batches in a London Dry Gin procedure in Germany’s purportedly smallest private gin distillery – under the motto of slow distillation at a low temperature. I am determined not to focus on quantity and profit. Only in this way can the fragile aromas release slowly, without partially dissolving the wood-body of rose hip, sloe and currant pips. Each bottle is a little work of art that is filled, sealed and labelled by hand”, as Mr. Bosselmann says.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Heidegin and bronze for Master Destillerie Cut London Dry barrel aged.