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Ländle Schnaps: Gin and whisky from the ‘Schnapshüsle’ at Höchst

Hubert Fink, a distiller from Höchst in the Rhine delta at Lake Constance, started to manufacture gin, whisky and fine brandies years ago. The fruit comes from the surrounding meadow orchards, while the Vorarlberg maize for the whisky is cultivated by the family on small fields. What started as a hobby has become a top-notch little enterprise where everybody lends a helping hand. Every bottle is filled and labelled by hand with attention to detail. The products can be sampled and purchased at the ‘Schnapshüsle’ next to the old Rhine Valley house where the family lives.

In 2015, Hubert Fink started experimenting with his own gin. Many hours and many distillates later, Ländle Dry Gin was ready for its market launch. It is set with the best species and highly aromatic juniper berries for an exact time period, then distilled carefully once again and finally refined with the purest spring water from a Vorarlberg mountain spring. It is put to market in a distinctive white clay bottle with a label that looks like old wood.

The whisky is the latest product in the range, for which an old local type of maize was sown, cultivated, harvested, husked and tied together for drying by hand, ground with a little mill and mashed. It was stored for five years in oak barrels specially imported from America and then, just like the gin, filled into striking, non-fading clay bottles. It is scarcely possible to do more by hand.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Ländle Dry Gin, and silver for Ländle Whisky.

Limomacher: Regionally produced – socially labelled

Limomacher is a young Bregenz enterprise, according to their own definition “excellent in graphics, design, customer service, lemonade production, social involvement and coffee drinking”. However, a look at the brief biographies of the four-person team reveals quite a bit about their wide-ranging qualifications. All lemonades are produced regionally in Vorarlberg according to their own recipes. Short pathways right up until labelling – also labels for private customers and companies on request – reinforce sustainability, along with filling exclusively in glass bottles. The labelling, as well as the whole warehousing, are handled by Lebenshilfe Vorarlberg, a support organisation for people with disabilities. This is an indication that social thinking has been of great importance from the beginning.

At the beginning of 2018, the ‘Franz von Durst’ brand started in Spar shops, followed by the start-up shelf at Metro. The company developed a gin along with a tonic water for this purpose, as the first manufacturer in retailing that offers both as a one-stop shop. The gin that is also regionally produced goes perfectly with the tonic water and its animating and aromatic concept offers an exceptionally fruity drinking experience. Aside from the juniper base, five further botanicals play a role: angelica root provides a slight tanginess and supports the homogenous taste; orange peel is characterised by a range of aromatic substances and a fine hint of citrus; liquorice provides a complex sweetness with a slightly earthy note; elderberry has an intensive and refreshing taste; and hops gives it a special something.

“We are delighted that the Vorarlberg locals have received our gin so well and that we can expand step by step also into other provinces,” say the two young entrepreneurs.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was achieved by Franz von Durst Gin, and silver by Franz von Durst Dry Gin Wild.