Serbs are known as a people for whom no life event can pass without a glass of rakija. From birth, through weddings, slavas (religious celebrations), and even funerals. What is perhaps less known is that it is precisely the Serbs who make the best rakija in the whole world. In the heart of Šumadija, in the village of Viševac, the birthplace of Karađorđe, there is a distillery that has been officially declared the third most modern distillery in the world, right after the distilleries in Tokyo and Canada, and holds the first place in Europe. This is where the famous šljivovica – the best rakija in the world – was made.
“The Emperus distillery has a very long family tradition, and it all started back in the 1930s. Now, with modern equipment and technology, we strive and manage to keep up with global trends, but what is certainly most important when it comes to our distillates is the fruit we use, which is grown on our orchards that spread over about 60 hectares. Forty hectares are planted with plums, about 10 with red ranka, and the rest with quince and other fruits,” Aleksandra Grozdanović from the Emperus distillery told RINA.
Great attention in this distillery is paid, as our interlocutor says, to the production process. The point of every processing is to extract the best from each fruit. Their product range, which travels the entire world, includes 29 distillates, and the emphasis is certainly placed on plum and quince brandies.
“Our products can be found in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, China… and of course all the countries in the region. Our brandy was also given to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. It is a 30-year-old šljivovica, and there are also other well-known personalities who are fans of our drinks,” says Aleksandra.
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Šumadija plum brandy from this distillery is the first and only brandy so far that has a protected geographical indication and comes from our country. The brandy matures for exactly 18 months in oak barrels. They are particularly proud of the results that their drinks have achieved at prestigious world competitions.
“A brandy about thirty years old was declared the best Serbian plum brandy of all time. A special blend and aroma make it a real challenge for collectors. It was produced in a limited series of 954 bottles, and one bottle was sold for as much as 15,000 euros. Also, one of the brandies we are proud of and which won important world awards last year in competition with almost 400 countries and among 1300 samples is a 25-year-old plum brandy. It was declared the absolute winner in all categories,” says Aleksandra.
The fact that production, aging, and tasting itself is a way of life is also shown by a special treasury located in the Emperus distillery in the village of Viševac.
“Here you can buy a barrel, which will be filled with a certain distillate, and then that barrel must be visited, so you become part of the family. The aging time of the brandy depends on the volume of the barrel, after that, collector buyers can make their own product, perhaps start their own business story. We have filled one part of the treasury, and now reservations are underway in the other part. The interest is really great,” said Aleksandra.
In addition to the protected geographical indication, the most expensive and best-rated Serbian plum brandy of all time, this Serbian distillery from Šumadija also has numerous awards for the best quince brandy.
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Source: RINA, Photo: RINA