Page 31 - IWSCReport2017

LIQUEUR PRODUCER OF THE YEAR TROPHY:
MOZART DISTILLERIE GMBH
Mozart Distillerie GmbH is today owned by Austria’s Schlumberger Wein- und Sektkellerei, which acquired the company from Beam Suntory in 2016, and has gained international recognition for its Mozart chocolate liqueur brand.
Founded in 1954 and based in Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Mozart Distillerie today specialises in chocolate-based liqueurs, which it has been making for the past 30 years, and is the global market leader in the category. All of its chocolate liqueurs are made from natural ingredients, with production centred on the cold maceration of vanilla and two types of cocoa bean; Forastero and Trinitario. The raw ingredients are mixed with neutral alcohol and then stored for two months in barrel and filtered to produce a clear cocoa spirit which forms the basis of Mozart liqueurs.
This February Mozart launched a White Chocolate Cream Strawberry expression, created by combining strawberries, bourbon vanilla, cream and cocoa butter with distillate.
“The vibrant packaging – our iconic foil-wrapped bottle – is a real crowd-stopper,” said Mozart’s CEO Florian Iro at the time of the launch. “With Mozart White Chocolate Cream Strawberry, we are opening a new season for chocolate lovers by presenting the chocolate world’s most-liked fruit combination.”
Other brands in the Mozart range include its original chocolate cream liqueur, a dark chocolate expression and a white chocolate variant. All of the expressions in the Mozart range are made with Belgian chocolate, fresh cream and vanilla from Madagascar, which are macerated in beet sugar alcohol to
create the liqueurs.
In addition to its cream liqueurs, the distillery
also produces a unique Mozart Chocolate Vodka – a clear spirit distilled from its trademark cocoa and vanilla macerate.
RUM PRODUCER OF THE YEAR TROPHY:
RUM TRADING INTERNATIONAL
Rum Trading International is the company name for the producers of Flor de Caña, the leading rum brand in Nicaragua, and one that is still family owned after 125 years.
From 1890, near the base of the San Cristobal volcano in northwestern Nicaragua, the Pellas family began producing rum for workers on their estate to celebrate the end of the harvest. The first rums from the estate were sold commercially in 1937.
By 1959 the brand began to expand its exports to neighbouring Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela.
The political upheavals in Nicaragua of the late 1970s and early 1980s led the company to keep back a larger stock of rum and continue ageing them until better times returned. It is for this reason that Flor de Caña has, to this day, one of the largest reserves of old rum in the world.
Since the 1990s the brand has grown, expanded its export markets and picked up ever-greater numbers of awards – nearly 200 of them – at international competitions, making it one of the most awarded rum brands in the world.
In 2005, the company released its 18-year-old Flor de Caña, which went on to be given top awards at competitions in San Francisco and London, while the 25-year-old expression released in 2014 was named ‘2017 Best Rum of the Year’ at the International Rum Conference in Madrid. This year the brand celebrated its 125th year, with its leadership spanning
five generations.
Rum Producer shortlist
 Angostura Limited
 Demerara Distillers
 Distillerie Neisson
 Rum Trading International
Liqueur Producer shortlist
 Joseph Cartron
 Marie Brizard
 Mozart Distillerie GmbH  Xquisito
30 winners’ guide 2017