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Kapruner Edelbrände: Hiking with a high-spirited reward

Not far from Kaprun town center, on the Maiskogel mountain, lies the cosy Unteraigen inn. Homemade delicacies and home-distilled schnapps are served here, accompanied by the wonderful panoramic views over the Kaprun Valley and the surrounding mountains. The establishment is run by the Rattens-berger family with charisma and warmth and is a popular place to stop for people on hikes or to take a break from skiing. You can visit the distillery, if you like.

In 1995, Albert Rattensberger had the facility designed and built, and in 2001, he founded the Kaprun-er Edelbrände company. In 2014, Anton ‘Toni’ Rattensberger took over the distillery, which produces fine fruit distillates with love and experience. “In schnapps you will only find what the fruit has to give, sometimes with a little yeast to improve fermentation. Basically, we keep to the motto: good fruit = good fermentation = good schnapps,” says Toni.

Distillation takes place all year round, but the main season is between September and December. When the distillation plan is drawn up, the fruit is delivered. Depending on demand, between 500 and 1,500 litres of schnapps are distilled every year. In total, there are 11 varieties, including apple, multi-fruit schnapps (Obstler), sour cherry, cherry, apricot and Williams pear, all made with fruit sourced from local Styrian farmers. They also produce rowanberry spirits – including Ukrainian field rowan – as well as gentian and even a rich egg liqueur.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for gentian, Williams Pear an apricot.

Prodal'94 – Strong brands from Romania

Founded nearly 15 years ago, Prodal is now one of the largest producers of alcoholic drinks in Romania. Two stars from the product range – and market leaders in each of their categories – are the Wembley Dry Gin and Stalinskaya Vodka. The distinctive bottle and label designs come from the internationally recognised London company Claessens, a specialist on the international drinks market. At the World Spirits Award, the gin rated excellent, with double gold (Spirit of the Year 2014). The vodka received a gold medal.

The name Stalinskaya comes from the Russian word ‘stal’, which can be translated as ‘hard as steel’. Following an old Russian recipe, the vodka is produced with the most modern technology, the base ingredient is premium alcohol from the best grain. Stalinskaya came on the market in 1996 and grew constantly, today it is the number one with about 40% market share. The brand’s central motto, ‘For the strong’, is a central theme through all the advertising campaigns, whether print, film or video. Lots of ice and snow, a large dose of the male spirit for adventure, and always with a friend at their side – this also describes Stalinskaya: pure and authentic, and of the best quality.

The Wembley London Dry Gin came on the market in 2001 and became market leader in only eight months. It is still the most popular gin in Romania. Based on a traditional English recipe, distilled with the latest technology, it is ‘very British’. The name Wembley also evokes a district with history, and strong links to the concepts of entertainment and happiness. Londoners’ penchant for traditional values is underlined by the label design with the symbol of the British crown.

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’.