The Polmos Łańcut distillery is one of the oldest producers of liquors and liqueurs in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. A small amount of the distillery's output is exported to Belgium, the

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, France,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

History

The distillery in

Łańcut Łańcut (, approximately "wine-suit"; yi, לאַנצוט, Lantzut; uk, Ла́ньцут, Lánʹtsut; german: Landshut) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 18,004 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (si ...

was founded by

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

Lubomirska on the vast estate of the Lubomirski family. An original document attesting to the distillery's existence in 1784 can be found in its museum. Primarily the Łańcut estate produced regular, anise flavoured and sweetened

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Alfred Wojciech Potocki Count Alfred Wojciech Potocki hr. Piława (1785–1862) was a Polish nobleman (''szlachcic''), landowner, political and economic activist. Alfred was the 1st ''Ordynat'' of Łańcut estates. From 1809 until 1815 he served in the Polish Army. In ...

, a grandson and heir of the Duchess, started to run the Łańcut and Lwów Lubomirski estates in 1823. He modernised the management of these properties, and implemented the Schwartz distillation equipment. The production of premium vodkas, liqueurs,

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

s and ratafias was started, in addition to regular and anise flavoured vodkas. The estate ran two company outlets in Lwów and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1882 Alfred Józef Potocki created a network of agents to promote sales in Galicia and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. Trains of the Viennese rail lines passing through the town of Łańcut used to make longer stops to allow travellers to buy the distilleries' famous products. In 1900, ''Count Alfred Potocki's Distillery'' won a gold medal at the

International Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

for his array of products. Between 1911–1912 Roman Potocki moved the plant to a newly equipped building. Some of the buildings were destroyed with the eruption of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The difficulties were helped by establishing a stock company in 1917. In 1924 the State alcohol monopoly was funded in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. Łańcut distillery managed to hold its position among the best companies in the country thanks to investments in equipment and innovations. The plant survived the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

largely intact, but it suffered major destruction in 1944 from the withdrawing German armies and advancing Russian units. In 1951 a state enterprise called ''Łańcut Spirits Industries'' was created out of the ''Łańcut Spirits Stock Company'' and ''Count Alfred Potocki's Privileged Distillery of Liqueurs, Rosoglios and Rum in Łańcut''. In 1969 the plant was producing fifteen kinds of unflavoured and flavoured vodkas, about 200,000 bottles a day. In 1991

Polmos Polmos (acronym for ''Polski Monopol Spirytusowy'', Polish Spirits Monopoly) was a Polish state-owned monopoly, controlling the Polish market for alcoholic beverages. Founded in the late 1920s, until World War II it was one of the leading vodka ...

, the Polish Alcohol Monopoly was dissolved. The distillery became an autonomous state company. The previous product line was maintained: about sixty brands, including Wyborowa, Luksusowa, Extra Żytnia,

Krakus Krakus, Krak or Grakch was a legendary Polish prince, king and founder of Kraków, the ruler of the Lechitic tribe of Vistulans. Krakus is also credited with building Wawel Castle and slaying the Wawel Dragon by feeding it a dead sheep full ...

Polonaise The polonaise (, ; pl, polonez ) is a dance of Polish origin, one of the five Polish national dances in time. Its name is French for "Polish" adjective feminine/"Polish woman"/"girl". The original Polish name of the dance is Chodzony, meani ...

, Jarzębiak,

Soplica Soplica () is one of the older brands of Poland, Polish pure and flavoured vodka, having been first produced in 1891 (in a factory that was opened in 1888). Although the origins of vodka in Poland can be traced back to as early as the 8th century ...

, Pieprzówka,

Żubrówka Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka () is a flavored Polish vodka, which contains a bison grass blade (''Hierochloe odorata'') in every bottle. The Żubrówka brand name is also used on bottles of conventional vodka, labeled as Żubrówka Biała. An e ...

, Wiśniówka and Ratafia and also Polish Cherry and Cacao Choix liqueurs. Soon more than a dozen of own products was added to the brand assortment. Among others

vodka was introduced and the flag product of the old Potocki firm, Rosoglios, was reintroduced.

Museum of Vodka Industry

The Łańcut distillery holds a museum portraying the plant's traditions and the history of the Polish vodka industry. The museum is located in a manor built in 1883, designed by Ludwik Boguchwalski, which once was the headquarters of the estate management. Its exposition contains old distilling devices, antique machinery as well as old documents, labels, bottles and tasting glasses.

Brands

* Biała Dama * Ck vodka * Estate vodka * Harnaś Łańcut is a pure

produced by Polmos Łańcut form high quality grain spirit rectified and filtered many times. According to its producer it has a mild and delicate taste and aroma which is obtained by the use of time-tested ingredients and careful processing. It contains 40% alcohol by volume. In 1995 it was granted a gold medal by International Fair POLAGRA in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. It was also awarded with a silver medal and ranked 87 "Highly Recommended" points by the

Beverage Testing Institute The Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) is a marketing service company that provides reviews for spirits, wines, and beers. It uses numerical scores and publishes books of its test results. The company's beer marketing program, the World Beer Champio ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. ---- * Polka *

* Pro Polonia * Rosoglio *

Wisent The European bison (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, along ...

References

* Rogala, Jan. ''Gorzałka czyli historia i zasady wypalania mocnych trunków'', Baobab: 2004.

External links

Polmos Łańcut

Museum of Vodka Industry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polmos Lancut Distilleries Drink companies of Poland Polish brands Polish vodkas Polish liqueurs Anise liqueurs and spirits

History

Museum of Vodka Industry

Brands

See also

References

External links