Cachaca is not really a well-known spirit in Europe and especially in Eastern European countries. You may only find it for sale in a few specialty stores, and even then only bulk-produced, blank cachaca from the largest producers. On the other hand, I have never seen matured cachaca for sale, not…
999 Herbal Devynia, made by Stumbras, is Lithuania's equivalent to Estonia's Vana Tallinn and Latvia's Black Balsam. The 999 series includes various herbal liqueurs with slight nuances. There is a traditional, lemon-enhanced, hemp-seed flavored and more bitter version. 999 Bitter is, as the name suggests, a drier and more bitter version…
There are two types of cocoa liqueurs, brown/dark made from cocoa beans and light/transparent made from distilled cocoa ingredients. Light cocoa liqueur is usually made from cocoa beans/fat that has been distilled to create a cocoa-flavored, colorless concentrate. The cocoa concentrate is then mixed with alcohol, water and sugar to make…
Park is not a very well-known brand in the field of cognacs. The fact that until 2005 the company produced distillates only for the needs of other manufacturers has a big influence on the matter. Distillerie Tessendier&Fils, which has been producing distillates on a small, 25-hectare vineyard since 1880, decided in…
Gautret's history dates back to 1847, when Jules Gautret started cognac production in the castle owned by his parents. The distillery remained in the hands of the Gautret family for over 100 years, until 1959, when it was bought by the Coopérative des Viticulteurs Charentais (Unicognac AS). Unicognac is a cooperative…
Maison Giffard is a French liqueur distillery. The company was founded by the pharmacist Emile Giffard in 1885. Emile developed various elixirs to improve digestion in his own pharmacy and launched a clear, transparent mint liqueur as his first product. He offered the liquor to the neighboring hotel and it became…
Driven by the great popularity of Campari and Aperol, several other manufacturers have also started producing red-colored, slightly bitter aperitifs. Manufacturers can be found both in Italy, the home of the drink style, and also in several other European countries. Antica Distilleria Quaglia was founded at the end of the 19th…
Estonian flagship vodka Viru Valge has also a series of flavored vodkas and already a few of them have been covered in this blog. Now it's the turn of plum vodka, which was released in the summer of 2023. As far as I know, Liviko is currently the only Estonian producer…
Wurzelpeter is one of many German herbal liqueurs. It began to be manufactured in 1935 in the Berlin Mitte district. After the 2nd World War, the company that produced the liqueur was nationalized, and over the years, it was grown as the East German equivalent of the famous West German product…
Located on the Isle of Jura, on the west coast of Scotland, the island's only distillery is operated by Whyte&Mackay, which is part of the Philippine Alliance Global Group. The history of the distillery dates back to 1810, but its operations have been on a hold several times over the years.…