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Family of Hounds – Sought and found

Andrea Frigerio and his English wife, Lina, live in Monaco with their two dogs, Spot and Magda, two wonderful additions to the family. Since they started taking the two for walks in town, they have made many new friends. Andrea and Lina used to be red wine drinkers, who spent their holidays in the wine hills of Italy and France. It was only in 2013, while visiting a country estate in England, that they discovered their love for a good G & T. This developed into a passion, and their discussions soon revolved around what it would be like to create their own gin.

They tasted intensively, discarded aromas they didn’t like, and extracted the aromas they did. Together with the master distiller in an old distillery in Piedmont, they created their recipe for the gin: juniper, lemon and orange peel, pink grapefruit, lavender, thyme, cardamom, ginger and coriander. The first three ingredients come from Italy, the rest from Asia. “The juniper is really loud, like a brightly lit disco floor, and the other botanicals dance around it. Together, they are like a lively, attention-seeking dog that can’t sit still.”

In the future, they are looking to establish a small family of spirits, from gin to vodka and from grappa to vermouth – unmistakable in taste, but accessible to everyone. The core of the philosophy is going out with good friends, enjoying a good meal and even better spirits. The first step has already been taken …

At the World Spirits Award, there was double gold for Family of Hounds Gin.

Nordic Premium Beverages: High percentage from the far north

Ilomantsi is the easternmost community in Finland, situated in North Karelia on the border with Russia. The company was founded here in 1989 and initially produced berry wines and spirits for the local market. Today it focuses on distillates. The natural landscape plays its part in only the highest quality, purest raw materials being processed. All the spirits, wines, sparkling wines and liqueurs are made of carefully selected berries and plants from Finland. True to the origins in the land of 187,888 lakes, exclusively fresh spring water is used as the basis for the drinks. And the development of a new product always starts with a story.

In the case of Oath Gin, it started with the Finnish Formula 1 racing driver Valtteri Bottas asking whether a gin could be manufactured for him. He originally only wanted a single batch for himself and his friends, but he liked the end product so much that he wanted to share his enthusiasm and make it available on a wider scale. In the beginning, there was the idea of apple and oats (coming from fields belonging to Bottas’ family), actually an apple cake. With the innovative idea of vacuum distillation of the apple peel, the master distiller Asko Ryynänen succeeded in capturing the essence of this traditional bakery item in the form of a gin. Together with the subtlety of the oats, juniper berries, a few additional secret ingredients and their own naturally filtered spring water, a New Western Style Gin emerged.

At the World Spirits Award, bronze was awarded to OATH Gin.

Alexandrion Group: A big player from Romania

The largest and most successful spirits and wine business in Romania has a comprehensive portfolio with leading brands in all categories as well as traditional Romanian products, which are known nationally and internationally for their quality. Tradition is honoured in the production process that follows their own authentic recipes with the best ingredients.

The Alexandrion Distillery is located in Dealu Mare, in the southern Romanian region of Prahova. 11,000 square metres provide a home to the distillery, filling plant – with a capacity of 40 million litres a year – and packaging area, while underground cellars cover 1,500 square metres with over 3,000 oak barrels and storage areas. 92 employ- ees work in 11 departments to optimise the production process. Modern technology and processes are used and the highest quality is guaranteed. Much has been invested in the purchase of automated, high-tech machinery for the processing, distillation and fermentation of the fruits that are used for the premium spirits. Using a flexible logis- tics model that can handle a complex product portfolio, the distillery counts as one of the most modern and efficient in South-Eastern Europe. With a philosophy of constant technological development and the procurement of new production plants, capacity is constantly being expanded in order to meet growing demands from national and international markets.


At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Brâncoveanu XO, Brâncoveanu VSOP and Kreskova Vodka, and silver for Brâncoveanu VS, Zolmyr Mere and Suman D41.