Artisan Spirit: Winter 2022

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SLIVOVITZ Slivovitz is so intertwined in the life of many Balkan people that one Serbian man was once quoted as saying

Written by Reade A. Huddleston

“With slivovitz we are born, with slivovitz we marry, and slivovitz we bury.”

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veryone has that one bottle on their back bar that’s never been opened. Maybe it was a gift from a distant relative, or maybe it was a random last-minute purchase at the local liquor store. Regardless of how you got it, it just never seemed like the right time to open it. What’s more is you wouldn’t know what to do with it once you did. For a lot of people, I would be willing to bet that that bottle is a bottle of slivovitz. Even though you may have never tried it, its presence on many back bars speaks to its important cultural heritage and rich history. A brief note about etymology before we continue: like many other traditional drinks, slivovitz goes by a number of different names throughout Eastern Europe. Furthermore, for those that do agree that slivovitz is the correct name, the proper spelling and pronunciation often changes depending on who you are talking to and where you are. For simplicity’s sake we will be using slivovitz throughout this article. However, be aware that there is more than one way to skin this cat. In order to really delve into the history and processes of slivovitz, we have to first understand

W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M

what exactly defines it. Most people outside of the Balkan peninsula don’t realize it, but slivovitz is actually considered a subset of a much larger category of spirits known as Rakija. Rakija, or Rakia, depending on what part of Eastern Europe you are in, is a general term in the Balkans for any distilled fruit spirit (note: although it is similarly named, this spirit is not the same as Turkish Raki. See? I told you the terminology could get complicated).1,2 Home distilling of Rakija is widely practiced throughout the Balkans with as many as one in ten families having a still for home production.3 Traditionally, families produce Rakija from whatever fruit is readily available, including apples, grapes, and apricots.2 However, the most plentiful and sought-after fruit in the Balkans is the plum.4 Sliv is actually the Slavic root word for plums, and this is where slivovitz gets its name.5 Therefore, one would think it is generally accepted that slivovitz is a plum brandy — a fact that is echoed by the European Union’s regulations stating that the term slivovitz may be placed on any drink that meets the definition of plum brandy.6 However, there is considerable dissension between producers from various countries on whether

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