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Die Brau- & Brennwerkstatt: Great taste from the Swabian Forest

The ‘distillery workshop’ in Welzheim is a handcrafted masterpiece, designed and modified especially according to the wishes and requirements of master brewer Mark Schlaipfer. After over 25 years of experience in the industry and many years of distilling fine spirits, he began to produce gin in 2016. The aim is for straightforward and good products with a connection to the region, the Welzheim Forest, as the quality of a gin depends largely on the spices and flavour carriers. With great love for detail the recipes are fine-tuned, fir tree shoots collected and herbs selected. Very deliberately, only small batches are produced, carefully and without rushing – but with lots of love.

After the High Fir Welzheimer Wald Dry Gin, new creations such as the High Fir Summer Edition, High Fir Pimped Peach Gin and Waldfee Liqueur were developed.
The new Barbar London Dry Gin with eleven botanicals is another product with an interesting connection to the region. Welzheim is located at the “Limes”, the frontier wall between the Germanic and Roman empires. Cultural exchange also occurred here, and the cuisine was enriched by both cultures. Thus this gin is a combination of Mediterranean herbs, local spices and fruits such as apple and elderberry. In addition, almost forgotten spices, such as fenugreek seeds, are macerated. The result is a Mediterranean, fruity combination with a peppery sharpness.

At the World Spirits Award, there was silver for Barbar London Dry Gin.

Morikawaratan: Liqueur specialities from Japan

Takanori Mori, who runs a roofing company, started Goodman Kitchen, a mobile restaurant, in 2018. He travelled through Japan with it and got to know wonderful ingredients in every region. Inspired by these encounters, he founded a factory for liqueur specialities in 2022. He began producing liqueurs, for which he processed agricultural products from all over Japan. The first product, Limoncello, was launched in spring 2023, followed by Arancello, plum wine and Bankan, made from unique citrus fruits. Guided tours of the company are also available for anyone interested.

In November 2023, Limoncello was awarded a gold medal and the plum wine a silver medal at ‘The Liqueur Masters’. This is organised by ‘The Spirits Business’ trade magazine, and spirits are tasted by spirits experts in 14 separate categories. The results can also be found at www.thespiritsbusiness.com, which attracts more than 325,000 visitors from almost 150 countries every month. The products also impressed the WSA expert jury.

At the World Spirits Award, there was double gold for Hida Craft Lemoniq (Sweet Award & SoY 2024), gold for Hida Craft Lemoniq Bitter, and bronze for Hida Craft Umeshu Den.

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.