May the 30th, 2023 - The Croatian brand Wise Grus has gone from strength to strength, leaving the world of relative obscurity to becoming extremely well known in international circles and for all sorts of different occasions.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian brand Wise Grus is consumed as part of all sorts of celebrations, important anniversaries are celebrated with it, and both kisses and tears are shed with it. Those flavours stay in the memory for a long time, according to brandy and rakija lovers.

While lovers of a drop or two of strong alcohol say that, confirmation of it certainly comes in the form of the same being said by the jury of the world's most prestigious competition for spirits, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, which recently awarded double gold and silver to the Croatian brand Wise Grus' Lozovaca Barique and the much loved Sljivovica. This competition is otherwise considered the most important in the spirits category, it has been being held for 23 years now, and the evaluation criteria are extremely stringent and high.

All of the above would not be unusual if it were not for the fact that this small Daruvar distillery's products won two gold medals in Frankfurt for its Dunjevac and Lozovac shortly after entering the market. It wouldn't be strange either if it hadn't earned recognition for being the best Croatian distillery presented in Frankfurt so soon after emerging. After only eight months of presence on the market, the distillery's shelves already boast a total of six awards, double gold in San Francisco and one silver, an award in Zagreb and two awards in Frankfurt.

Although it is a debut distillery, it has actually entered higher society with great strides. There are many plans for this new Croatian brand, and they're not even aware of the importance of these prestigious awards because the team working there simply does what it loves. Where they will end up in the future remains to be seen, but judging by the "fiery" start they've enjoyed, there are still many challenges and a lot of recognition ahead of them.

They believe that their success will encourage other brandy producers in the Republic of Croatia to make every effort to activate the thriving domestic spirits market and become recognisable both in Europe and indeed in other countries around the world.

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