Spreewood Distillers – Stork Club Whiskey from Berlin
The Stork Club Whiskey from Spreewood Distillers GmbH is a young spirits brand, founded in 2017 by friends Steffen Lohr, Sebastian Brack and Bastian Heuser, who are well-known in the beverage and bar scene, in the surroundings of Berlin.
Bastian Heuser and Steffen Lohr met as fellow bartenders in a bar in Frankfurt. They sharpened the profile of the until then rather unknown bar, gave the drinks their own signature, and within a short time, the bar was hyped far beyond Sachsenhausen. However, the paths of the two initially diverged in 2007. Bastian went to Berlin, became part of the Mixology editorial team, advised spirits companies through his own agency, and co-founded Bar Convent Berlin. Steffen Lohr first spent a year in Australia and became a brand ambassador for Bacardi, before following Bastian to Berlin and joining his agency, Small Big Brands. The third member of the group, Sebastian Brack, founded Thomas Henry in 2010; the premium filler brand became a complete success. In 2013, Belzazar followed, arguably the first German vermouth. He incorporated his brand-building expertise into Spreewood Distillers.
Spreewood Distillers – Stork Club Rye Whiskey from Spreewald
From the Spreewald comes not only the export hit, the Spreewald gherkin, but since 2017, also the finest rye whiskey, probably the best rye whiskey outside the USA. We owe this to the Berlin boys Steffen, Sebastian, and Bastian. In 2015, they took a trip to Schlepzig to buy a whiskey barrel for a client at Brandenburg's oldest distillery. But they were so impressed by the farm concept of the Römer family and their Spreewaldini distillery, liqueur and candy manufactory, and cake bakery, all founded in 2004 under one roof, that they immediately took over the entire business and elaborately converted it into a gem with the most modern technology. Although "distilling whiskey in Schlepzig" didn't sound particularly sexy, it was exactly what the Berlin entrepreneurs wanted: Spreewood Destillerie was born. The great thing is that they distill their Stork Club Rye Whiskey from Brandenburg rye, which is milled in their own mill. Today, Stork Club Destillerie is Germany's first rye whiskey distillery. In 2019, Stork Club was named "World's Best Rye Whiskey" at the World Whiskies Awards. WOW!
