Distillery Info
Asbach’s history dates back to 1892 when Hugo Asbach (1868–1935) founded the company in the town of Rüdesheim am Rhein.
Asbach, a native from Cologne, learned the distillery trade at the local "Export-Company for German Cognac" and further improved his knowledge in France.. After World War I, when the Treaty of Versailles decreed that the word Cognac could only be used for French products, Hugo Asbach coined the term Weinbrand for German brandy, which in 1923 became an official classification according to German wine law.
The wines are carefully distilled on yeast in copper stills. The procedure involves a traditional process of two stages — raw spirit and fine spirit — that is both very time-consuming and highly labour-intensive.
The raw spirit has an alcohol content of about 40% volume and is the result of the first distillation stage. During the second distillation, one that is significantly more complex than the first, the aim is to obtain the actual fine spirit of about 75% volume, also known as the heart, that has the best characteristics for its later conversion into Asbach.
The maturing process takes place in small oak casks made of wood from the Limousin oak that has been aged for a number of years. This wood has especially large pores and is air-permeable so that the fine spirit can breathe and mature in an exchange process with air.
The fine spirit draws the natural aroma and colour substances from the cask, and this is where the liquid, originally clear, gains its topaz colouring and subtle, harmonious wooden accents.
The secret Asbach maturing and finishing process brings the complex production process to a close and gives Asbach its radiant topaz hue, harmoniously blended with the full aroma of wine and its characteristic bouquet.
Asbach is the only distillery in Germany that employs its own cooper. Our cooper, one of the last of his profession in Germany, devotes his work primarily to the repair and care of the Limousin oak casks and of the large vats made of Spessart oak. Distillery Notes
