Fies Original is a trademark of Franz Fies GmbH. Their product range includes several different clear fruit distillates, liqueurs and fruit distillates matured for up to 10 years. The Fies factories are located in south-west Germany in the Schwarzhwaldhoff region, which is obviously a fertile area for this type of production, as there are several different distilleries producing fruit distillates.

Kirchwasser is the company’s original product. It’s made from cherries growing in southwestern Germany that have been found to be excellent for making fruit distillates. Fresh cherries are crushed and fermented with stones to an original, slightly almond-like taste. After distillation, nothing is added to the distillate, not even sugar.

The aroma is fresh, very light cherryish, a little sweet and has a clear nuance of fermented fruit. The taste is a little sweeter and quite sharp. Cherryiness and a light hint of almond slowly come in the aftertaste. The taste of the cherry is not so distinctive. The copper pan used for distillation has been given a slight nuance. The aroma of the fermented berry is quite strong. If you expect to get some sweet cherry spirit based on the picture on the bottle label, you will be disappointed. These fruit distillates have their own category, and especially the cheapest ones have the strong aroma of fermented mash, which is typical for moonshines.

Fies Original Kirchwasser is on sale at an affordable price and is strong and fairly raw, but not very aromatic in taste. It is a very industrial product, produced in large batches for supermarket sales so no greater emphasis has been placed on its quality. Due to its low price, it is maybe a good way to check out if these kinds of drinks are your case. 

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