Prinz Alter Bodensee-Apfel

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 41% | Chill filtration: Yes | Colouring: No

Special Features:

For Alter Bodensee-Apfel, Prinz combines maturation in stoneware with subsequent ageing in a wooden cask. It uses several apple varieties grown on standard trees in the traditional meadow orchards of the Lake Constance region. Harvesting begins towards the end of summer. Only fully ripe, healthy fruit is processed, going straight into mash preparation upon arrival at the fruit-processing facility.

The apple distillate is distilled twice under vacuum, then matured for several years in stoneware vessels. It subsequently spends several more months in a specially made Prinz wooden cask. This stage develops its golden amber colour and a delicate woody note. After maturation, Prinz adds natural fruit extracts that contribute a subtle sweetness. This apple spirit contains 41% alcohol and is offered here in a 0.7-litre bottle.

For drinking neat as a digestif, Prinz recommends a stemmed schnapps glass and a serving temperature between 17 and 21 °C.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, the spirit has a fresh aroma of ripe fruit.
• Palate: The palate reveals a fruity, tart apple flavour with a delicate sweetness.
• Finish: The finish is particularly mild.

Distillery/Bottler:

Fein-Brennerei Prinz is rooted in Hörbranz, near the Austrian shore of Lake Constance. Its history began in 1886, when Thomas Prinz established a cider-making business and a cooperage. In 1921, he registered the distilling business. Today, Thomas IV. and Maximilian Prinz run the family company in its fourth generation. Since 2013, the distillery has had its own fruit-processing facility, Obsthof Leiblachtal, where freshly harvested fruit is processed into mash, fruit purée and juice.

Prinz uses temperature-controlled fermentation tanks as part of its fruit-processing operations. Cooling jackets keep fermentation at 16 to 18 °C, while agitators slowly stir the mash to which yeast has been added. The distillery also introduced vacuum distillation in 2004. The reduced pressure lowers the boiling temperature by around 30 °C, allowing a gentler distillation process that preserves delicate fruit aromas.

Facts: