World-Spirits Online Guide Abo – order now

Diageo – From London to the whole world

Approximately 33,000 employees are employed worldwide at Diageo, the market leader in premium spirits, with Smirnoff (vodka), Johnnie Walker (whiskey), J&B (Scotch whiskey), Baileys (liqueur), Captain Morgan (rum), Cuervo (tequila) and Tanqueray (gin), Guinness beer and branded wines. Production takes place all around the world: from Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Spain and Africa, to the USA, Canada, Latin America, Australia, India and the Caribbean. The global corporation emerged in 1997 from the merger between Guinness and GrandMet. 180 markets around the world are handled from its London headquarters.

A lot of work and lots of attention to detail go into creating the in-depth product descriptions on Diageo’s website. Information and analysis is provided about issues ranging from detailed descriptions of the production down to the most minute ingredients. Finally, they are aware of the size of their company and also of their responsibilities as a supplier of alcoholic products. The name Diageo was also deliberately chosen – it represents their agenda. Put together from ‘dia’ (the Latin word for ‘day’) and ‘geo’ (the Greek word for ‘world’), it means that every day people are celebrating all over the world with products from their company. These products open up possibilities never dreamed of for special days and nights, marking special life events and even making the smaller things in life feel magical.

Participation in the World Spirits Award was magical: there was double gold for Tanqueray No. 10 (Spirit of the Year 2016), gold for Gordon’s London Dry Gin and Tanqueray London Dry Gin, as well as silver for Tanqueray Rangpur.

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.

Noroi Distillery: Newcomer from Quebec

Noroi was officially opened in February 2019 in Saint-Hyacinthe near Montreal. Here, a small team of five people are experimenting with exceptional spirits. For about a year they worked on a gin recipe that combines traditional distillation and cold distillation. The cold distillation allows various aromas to be preserved, which could otherwise be altered in conventional distilling methods. An orange liqueur was also developed, which smells and tastes like freshly squeezed oranges. When the first maceration of fresh oranges was distilled, everyone was astonished by the freshness of the result – and this unique taste simply had to be shared. Just recently, another unique product was created using the best ingredient Quebec has to offer: a liqueur made from 100% maple syrup.

Noroi distinguishes itself from other distilleries primarily with its equipment and its research and development department, which is constantly working on new innovations; for example, on a distillation vat that can distil at under 0°C. Thanks to the vacuum principle it is possible to reduce the internal pressure, and thus the boiling point of the alcohol.

At the World Spirits Award, there was gold for Maple Liqueur, and silver for Lemon & Lime Vodka and Apéritivo.