Fruit
Quince is the connoisseur's fruit: hard, astringent and inedible raw, but distilled it yields one of the most perfumed spirits in the category.
Quince (coing in French, Quittenbrand in German, dunjevaΔa in the Balkans) is one of the most prized fruit eaux-de-vie and rakijas β intensely floral and famously low-yield. It appears across Alsace (Nusbaumer, Ziegler), the Alps (Morand, Etter), Austria (Rochelt), and the Balkans, always as a small, premium bottling.
Steige, Bas-Rhin Β· Alsace
A respected Val de VillΓ© distiller of kirsch, mirabelle, pear, raspberry, quetsche and marc.
Freudenberg am Main, Franconia Β· Germany
A Franconian house famed for wild-cherry brandy, aged Zwetschge plum, forest raspberry, mirabelle and wild quince.
Martigny, Valais Β· Switzerland
The Valais house behind Williamine pear and Abricotine AOP apricot, plus raspberry, quince and kirsch.
Zug, Switzerland Β· Switzerland
A leading Swiss house making AOP Zuger Kirsch, Williams pear, Vieille Prune plum, mirabelle, apricot and quince.
Fritzens, Tyrol Β· Austria
A cult Tyrolean house making uncompromising single-fruit eau-de-vie β apricot, quince, sour cherry, and a famed rowanberry.
Panyola, Szabolcs Β· Hungary
A Szabolcs house built on SzatmΓ‘r plum, with apple, quince, black cherry and an aged Elixir line.
TiszafΓΆldvΓ‘r Β· Hungary
A prolific Hungarian house distilling 80-plus products from around 30 different fruits.
PaliΔ, Vojvodina Β· The Balkans & Central Europe
A Vojvodina house with a premium multi-fruit brandy range.
GruΕΎa valley Β· The Balkans & Central Europe
A GruΕΎa-valley house making plum, quince and pear, with long-aged plum bottlings.
Cirencester, England Β· United Kingdom
A celebrated English craft distiller of fruit eaux-de-vie rivaling the best of the Continent.
Oberarth, Switzerland Β· Switzerland
One of Switzerland's oldest distillers (since 1846), spanning kirsch, Williams pear, aged plum and berry Geist.