Maltese cross aquavit
Malteserkreuz Aquavit is a German aquavit made according to a Danish recipe .
history
Customs and import charges made it almost impossible to import Aalborg Akvavit to Germany in the 1920s . That is why the parent company, A / S Danske Spritfabrikker (Danish Distillers), decided to manufacture an Aquavit in Berlin . The first Maltese Cross Aquavit left the factory in Berlin on February 18, 1924 . From 1972 to 2011, the Maltese Cross Aquavit was produced in Buxtehude . The production facility in Buxtehude was closed in mid-2011 and production was initially relocated to Denmark ( Aalborg ) and then to Norway (Hagan in the Nittedal municipality ) in May 2015 .
In 2001 Maxxium Deutschland GmbH, a joint venture company founded in 1999 by Rémy Cointreau SA , Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., The Edrington Group and Vin & Sprit AB , took over the distribution of the Danish Distillers brands Aalborg and Malteserkreuz. As a subsidiary of the Swedish Vin & Sprit AB, Danish Distillers Berlin GmbH operated as V&S Deutschland GmbH from April 2003. At the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London, the Maltese Cross Aquavit was awarded a gold medal as the world's best white aquavit in 2003.
In 2006 there was a legal dispute over the name and trademark, the Maltese cross , between the Danish aquavit manufacturer and Stuttgarter Hofbräu . They had newly acquired the naming rights for the Maltese wheat beer from the Order of Malta . Legally, this was irrelevant for the long-time brand owner Malteserkreuz Aquavit. V&S nevertheless accommodated the Stuttgarter Hofbräu and refrained from legally enforcing a ban on the beer brand.
In April 2007 the sister product Malteser Bitter was also offered on the market in Germany and positioned against competing products such as Fernet Branca, Ramazzotti and Jägermeister .
After the takeover of Vin & Sprit by the French spirits group Pernod Ricard , Pernod Ricard Deutschland GmbH took over the distribution of Malteserkreuz in Germany in 2009. In summer 2012, however, Pernod Ricard sold the former Danish Distillers brands, which in addition to Aalborg and Maltese Cross Aquavit also include Gammel Dansk , to the Norwegian Arcus groups. The brands in Germany have been distributed by Eggers & Franke since January 1, 2013 .
Products
- Malteserkreuz Aquavit (since 1924) in 0.04 l, 0.7 l and 1.0 l bottles with 40 vol .-%
- Maltese Cross No. 2, produced in Denmark from 1999 for the 75th anniversary with a golden yellow color in 0.7 l bottle and 37.5% by volume - has not been produced since 2009
- Maltese bitter, from 2007 in a black 0.7 l bottle with 35 vol .-% - has not been produced since 2010. In Denmark, the product is available with the same taste under the name 1-Enkelt .
Advertising campaign
Several German film, theater and television actors a. a. Günter Strack (1989), Manfred Krug , Iris Berben , Britta von Lojewski and Christoph M. Ohrt (2003) advertised the spirit in an advertising campaign by the FCB Wilkens agency (formerly Wilkens Ayer) with the slogan "You don't treat yourself to anything else" .