World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

Krugmann Markenspirituosen: Tradition meets Zeitgeist

This traditional spirit manufacturer’s roots go all the way back to the century before last. When the Krugmann family founded the distillery on their farm in 1867 it was the first business in Meinerzhagen. Entrepreneurship and commercial spirit united with farm heritage to create something new. For six generations, the company was family-run, and since the mid-1990s it has been run by a management team which meets the changing market with innovative ideas.

The handcrafted art of distilling was always the top priority at Krugmann, building on the knowledge, experi-ence and passion of the distillers trained within the company. In the development of new spirits, tradition meets zeitgeist. Strictly guarded recipes are the foundation for many specialities. These are accompanied by the passion for experimentation to create new taste experiences. The result is a wide range of products with over 200 spirits, which also stand out thanks to their bottle design.

Preserving what has been tried and tested whilst exploring new paths in product development is also re-flected in the new products from the ‘Premium Enjoyment’ series: three barrel-matured Korn specialities and a gin which reflects the company’s skills in having worked with juniper for over 150 years.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for Korn Cognac Barrel and Gin 150.

Tenmile Distillery: Ambitious project in America

Tenmile Distillery was founded in Wassaic by John Dyson and Joel LeVangia, with the aim of manufacturing American single malt from agricultural products in the state of New York. They were able to convince the experienced Scottish master distiller Shane Fraser to come to the United States to direct the distillery and supervise production in the Hudson River Valley of New York. The distillery was commissioned to Forsyths of Rothes Scotland at the end of 2019, taking up production in January 2020. Good results were achieved with an innovative range of barrels: apart from bourbon and sherry barrels, they also used wine barrels made of French oak which had previously been filled with Pinot Noir by Williams Selyem, a distinguished wine estate with vineyards in the Russian River Valley.

Sinpatch Vodka is made of 100% wheat and barley from the state of New York, a good choice for vodka drinkers who value traceability in production and high-quality ingredients. The distillery pays a premium to local farmers they know. Listening Rock Gin in a London Dry style is made according to strict regulations on a small 500-litre unit. All the plants come from their own distillery garden.

“We founded our independent distillery to return to traditional methods of whisky production with the right team and high-quality local raw materials, not intended for the mass market, moving away from global production plans.”

At the World Spirits Award, silver was awarded to Sinpatch Vodka and Listening Rock Gin.

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’.