BELGIAN SPIRITS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED BY INTERNATIONAL CONSUMERS

2022 is looking to be a ‘Grand Cru year’ for Filliers Distillery, with an impressive number of international awards already racked up

Bachte-Maria-Leerne / The Belgian distillery Filliers has been renowned for generations for its delicious genevers. While these will of course always play an important role in the range, the distillery has continued to focus on and invest in expanding and refining their range of premium spirits. They are doing so with the clear ambition to offer a portfolio of products that meet the taste of an international, often highly-discerning public. From the famous Filliers Barrel Aged Genevers range that are 8, 12, 17, 21 and even 30 years old, to Filliers Dry Gin 28, one of the first Belgian gins to be created, the recently launched Filliers Vodka to the 10-year-old Filliers Single Malt Whisky. All premium spirits that are distilled, from grain to glass, at the site in Bachte-Maria-Leerne.

And that approach is paying off! The spirits of Filliers Distillery have traditionally always scored very well in international competitions in the spirits industry. At these competitions, held in cities such as London, Edinburgh, Los Angeles and San Francisco, professional judges select spirits from different categories for awards for their quality and taste, often through blind tastings. These are important recognitions for the participating brands.

The past few months have been ‘Grand Cru months’ for Filliers, with an impressive run of victories in the key competitions worldwide. From a ‘Platinum Best of Class’ for the Filliers Barrel Aged Genever 17yo and a ‘Double Gold’ for the Filliers Tribute Gin at the Spirit International Prestige Awards (SIP Awards) in Los Angeles, to a ‘Gold Medal’ for Filliers Vodka Lemon at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition, to the award for ‘Best Belgian Single Malt’ for the Filliers Single Malt Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards which took place in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Each and every one of these awards represents international recognition of Belgian craftsmanship and an accolade for the work of master distillers Filip Waelkens and Pedro Saez del Burgo along with all their colleagues at the distillery.

Below, you can find an overview of all the awards won by Filliers Distillery in the past 5 months.

Today the Filliers Distillery site has three separate distilleries, allowing them to make a wide range of different spirits. The Filliers distillers were also among the first to mature their spirits in wooden barrels. During the aging process, the alcohol absorbs the flavours of the wood and takes on a more full-bodied character. In the case of Filliers Grain Genever, this process can take up to 30 years. That’s what makes the spirits so unique because time… can’t be bought or falsified. There are more than five thousand barrels in the maturation rooms of the distillery. This gives them one of the largest ageing capacities in the BeNeLux region. It is in these rooms that the casks of genever and whiskey wait patiently until they have attained the desired quality and taste.