A fruit distillery in Mömbris near Aschaffenburg, where the self-taught distiller Arno Josef Dirker, a former carpenter from a family of foresters and fruit growers, has distilled on his own still since 1992. Within two years he was named Schnapsbrenner des Jahres at the Destillata; he distils some fifty brandies, often from rare or regional fruit, and spirits such as his famous Haselnuss.
- Raw materials
- Fruit from the family's own orchard, enlarged to eight hectares with unusual fruit such as medlars and old perry pears, and from the surrounding Kahlgrund — wild field plums, wild cherries, blood pears in 14 varieties, service-tree fruit gathered from under the trees — with Mirabelles from the Taunus and wild raspberries from Romania.
- What makes it distinctive
- Arno Dirker taught himself to distil and is known for rare and difficult fruit — yew berries, mahonia, fly honeysuckle, Japanese quince, the Franconian Russe Quetsche — and for spirits like his hazelnut Geist, first distilled in 1996 on a pastry chef's advice to roast the nuts. He ferments in small tubs of 132 to 160 litres for better control, distils on a wood-fired column still without a thermometer, cutting heads and tails by taste and smell, and draws his labels himself. He was runner-up among Europe's distilleries at the Destillata in 1993 and Schnapsbrenner des Jahres in gold in 1994.
- Production methods
- Handcrafted
- Small Batch
- Traditional Methods
What they make
- Fruit BrandyFruit brandies from the family orchard and the Kahlgrund — the cask-aged Feldzwetschgenwasser from the local wild field plum, Williams, a blood pear brandy from 14 varieties, the black Mohrenkirsche, single-variety apple brandies, some aged in Bordeaux or acacia casks, and a pineapple brandy aged in a rum cask.
- Hazelnut SpiritThe Dirker Haselnuss, distilled from freshly roasted hazelnuts with cocoa beans and vanilla, the distillery's bestseller since 1996.
- Raspberry SpiritThe Waldhimbeer-Geist from wild and garden raspberries.
- LiqueursFresh-fruit liqueurs such as the Likör vom Speierling from fallen service-tree fruit.
