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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’.

Pernod Ricard: 200 years of Beefeater

Pernod Ricard was founded in 1975 through the merger of Ricard and Pernod and has developed steadily through organic growth and acquisitions. One of the most renowned portfolios in the sector is present on over 70 markets worldwide – including 19 brands among the world’s top 100.

Beefeater is the most prize-winning gin brand and the only classic gin that is distilled in London. The first seat of the brand, the Chelsea Distillery, was built in 1820 and bought in 1863 by James Burrough. The first Dry Gin in the London style was made there, and became known worldwide as Beefeater. The recipe has remained practically unchanged to this day, tried and tested by the master distiller Desmond Payne. Beefeater Dry is the world’s leading premium gin, Beefeater 24 is a super premium gin with Japanese and Chinese teas catering to the trends of contemporary cocktail culture. The range is rounded off by Beefeater Pink Strawberry, Beefeater Blood Orange and Beefeater Burrough’s Reserve, a handmade gin from an oak barrel.

The new bottle design – timeless and high-quality – evokes historical London brick. It brings together established and modern elements, as well as sustainability: the bottle is 100% recyclable, the plastic top is replaced by an aluminium cap, saving 410 tons of plastic a year.

Gold was awarded to Beefeater 24 and silver to Beefeater London Dry at the World Spirits Award.

Stiegenhaushof – A remarkable distillery

Johann Fankhauser, the great-grandfather of the present-day farm owner Martin, was a “Jack of all trades”. In addition to being the mayor and looking after the farm and animals, he also found time to build staircases for his neighbours – hence the name “Stiegenhäuserhof” (staircase farm). In those days, it wasn’t just apples, pears and damsons from the garden that were distilled, but also masterwort from the alpine pastures of the Ahorn area. Martin Fankhauser was a dairy farmer until 2005, who also kept sheep and chickens. After taking a distillation course, he produced his first Williams brandy and won silver in provincial competitions. That was the start of his distillation career: these days over 30 brandies and liqueurs from regional fruits are distilled in his modern licensed distillery.

As a real full-time farmer in the Zillertal Valley, Martin creates his brandies to perfection with passion and skill, and since March 2010 he also holds the title of ‘brandy sommelier’. In 2012 the cowshed was converted into a public-access distillery, with lots of room for tasting sessions, and a view into the sheep shed – after all, the master distiller is also an award-winning sheep farmer and has been breeding Tyrolean mountain sheep since 1996. Kathrin Fankhauser, mother and farmer with heart and soul, devotes herself to Zillertal Valley traditions on the farm, in the distillery and in the kitchen. Her specialities are the sweet liqueurs. “My grandmother took a lot of time to show us all about the preparation of the berries. We used to love the jams and jellies from cowberries, cranberries or red elder. This is how my passion for liqueurs came about, as they are full of fruity flavours down to the last drop.”

In everyday life, three generations live together in the traditional way – naturally and authentically. And this “authenticity” runs through the whole farm. The trademark of the products is the perfect mixture of tradition, region and passion. “Everything which is perfect in the eye or feelings of the beholder, is sexy. Why shouldn’t that also apply for brandies and liqueurs? Our schnapps is a real experience – really sexy. The tastes of the liqueurs capture the sweetness of life – really sweet.”

At the World Spirits Award, the Stiegenhaushof made a very strong showing: as a World Class Distillery 2014 with the title of “Distillery of the Year SILVER 2014”. The Yellow Williams Pear (Spirit of the Year 2014 & World Spirits Award 2014) and Red Williams Pear won double gold. There was gold for Muscat Grape, Fruit Schnapps Cuvée and Damson, and silver for Sloe.