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Zwack is a
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
based company that makes liqueurs and spirits. The company produces an 80 proof (40% alcohol) herbal liqueur known as
Unicum Unicum () is a Hungarian herbal liqueur or bitters, drunk as a digestif and apéritif. The liqueur was created in 1790 and is today produced by Zwack according to a secret formula of more than forty herbs; the drink is aged in oak casks. Du ...
from a secret blend of more than forty different herbs and spices. Unicum is known as one of the national drinks of Hungary. The company is also a distributor of a range of international brands such as
Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Sc ...
, Baileys,
Smirnoff Smirnoff (; ) is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898). It is distributed in 130 countries. Smirnoff prod ...
,
Hennessy Jas Hennessy & Co., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France. It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together ma ...
and Gordons. Zwack has been listed on the
Budapest Stock Exchange Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) ( hu, Budapesti Értéktőzsde (BÉT)) is the 2nd largest stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe by market capitalization and liquidity. It is located at 55 Krisztina Boulevard, Budapest, Hungary, in the Buda ...
since 1993.


History

According to the company,
Unicum Unicum () is a Hungarian herbal liqueur or bitters, drunk as a digestif and apéritif. The liqueur was created in 1790 and is today produced by Zwack according to a secret formula of more than forty herbs; the drink is aged in oak casks. Du ...
was created by Dr. József Zwack, the Royal Physician to the Habsburg Court, for
Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
in 1790. In 1840 the family founded J. Zwack & Co., the first Hungarian liqueur manufacturer. By the early 1900s, the Zwack company had become one of the largest distilleries in
central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
, producing and exporting over 200 liqueurs and spirits. During
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 ...
, the Zwack factory was damaged and production stopped. After the war the factory was nationalized in 1948 by the communist
Hungarian Working People's Party The Hungarian Working People's Party (, abbr. MDP) was the ruling communist party of Hungary from 1948 to 1956. It was formed by a merger of the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP) and the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP).Neubauer, John, ...
. The Zwack family fled the country. János Zwack with his son
Péter Zwack Péter János Zwack (21 May 1927 – 5 August 2012) was a Hungarian businessman, investor, philanthropist, diplomat and the Hungarian Ambassador to the United States from 1990 until 1991. He was the CEO and owner of the company Zwack. Biography ...
, great grandson of József, was able to escape with the original Zwack recipe. Béla Zwack remained behind to give the communist government a fake Zwack recipe and went on to become a regular factory worker. Meanwhile, János and Péter migrated to the United States, eventually settling in
the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
in 1949 when Péter was 22 years old. In 1988, just one year before the
fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
, Péter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed production with the original Zwack formula. He repurchased his family business from the State in the summer of 1989, and by the spring of 1990, the original Zwack product was reintroduced to the Hungarian market. That same year, Péter was named Hungarian Ambassador to the United States. In 2008, Péter Zwack handed over the company's leadership to the family's 6th generation, his own children, Sándor and Izabella Zwack. One of their first initiatives was to launch Zwack in the US. In 2013, the Zwack Company has also launched Unicum and Unicum Plum in the US.


Details

Unicum is made from a blend of more than 40 different herbs and spices. Some of the herbs and spices are distilled, some are macerated, then blended together and aged in oak casks at the factory in Budapest for over 6 months. The dark amber hue is achieved with added caramel color. This bitter, bold taste herbal liqueur is mainly consumed as an apéritif before meals or a digestif after meals. The company also produces a slightly different version of the liqueur known as Unicum next, it is made from the same recipe and shares Unicum’s bold character but is slightly less bitter and leaves a hint of citrus finish on the palate.


Other Zwack products


Vilmos product family

Vilmos is a product range of spirit drinks made by mixing
pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...
pálinka Pálinka is a traditional fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) with origins in Carpathian Mountains, more exactly known under several names, and invented in the Middle Ages. Protected as a geographical indication of the European Union, only fruit spir ...
,
neutral spirit Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countri ...
s and added flavorings with or without the addition of honey. There's also a genuine pear pálinka in the range, aged 3 years.


St. Hubertus product family

St. Hubertus is a traditional, herbal liqueur, St. Hubertus 33 gets its name from the 33 different herbs used to make this drink and because it is 33% alcohol. St. Hubertus 33 is marketed more towards younger people, because of its lighter flavor.


Hírös Kecskeméti product family

This product family consists of real palinkas and some spirits that although are made 100% from distilled fruit, they are sweetened with honey, thus they cannot be sold under the label of pálinka, so they are marketed under the Hírös Kecskeméti label. These are a lighter, sweeter, pálinka based liqueur.


Kalinka product family

Contains one vodka and two vodka-based alcoholic beverages. Kalinka Samovar is a 30% drink flavored with honey and tea. Carbonated Kalinka, or "Fény" is a flavored, 21% drink with carbon dioxide added.


Fütyülős

This product family was based on ''Fütyülős Barack'', a spirit drink made by mixing apricot pálinka, neutral spirits and flavorings. The range initially has been broadened with six different fruit liqueurs produced alike, but mellowed with sugar and honey. Finally, it was completed with six different kinds of pure pálinka. ''Fütyülős Barack'' is not to be confused with its 20th century predecessor, ''Fütyülős Barackpálinka'', which was an authentic apricot pálinka, aged in wooden barrels. Modern ''Fütyülős Barack'' was described by a professional Hungarian jury as having “a taste and flavour of petroleum; cannot be recommended to anyone ..


Zwack Sándor Nemes Pálinka Family

The noble pálinka family consisting of genuine fruit pálinkas.


References


External links

{{Authority control Food and drink companies established in 1790 Hungarian alcoholic drinks Hungarian brands Herbal liqueurs Manufacturing companies based in Budapest Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court Companies listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...