Spirit Master: Broken Bones

Slovenian distillery Broken Bones was established in 2012 in Ljubljana by head distiller Boštjan Marušič, CEO Borut Osojnik, and sales and marketing director Polona Preskar. In addition to making gin and whisky, the distillery launched brandy and vodka this year, sweeping awards in 2024 across the board.

Broken Bones Vodka was awarded a Master medal at the 2024 Vodka Masters. The sugar cane vodka impressed the judges with its 'sweet, floral smell with a touch of fruit, slight sweetness and creamy notes' and a 'nice mouthfeel and good balance, displaying notes of orchard fruits on the slightly hot palate with a peppery finish'. In addition, the distillery received praise and awards in other categories at The Global Spirits Masters Competitions in 2024. The brand’s Jakončič Petreja Vinjak Brandy received a Silver medal at The Brandy Masters, as well as Master, Gold and Silver medals at The Gin Masters – First Tasting, and a Silver medal for its single malt at The World Whisky Masters – gathering a total of six medals for its portfolio. The recently launched Broken Bones Vodka is produced from sugar cane spirit, diluted with pure water from Slovenian mountains, and filtered four times through charcoal made from whisky oak barrels. The result is a 'wild, clear and smooth' vodka. The brand’s London Dry Gin, the range's signature gin, was created after more than a hundred trials and is made with eight key ingredients, including rosehip, linden flower, and black cardamom. In addition to five core gins, Broken Bones has also launched a limited edition gin and a lower-alcohol ‘gin’ alternative, Clouds 14.5% ABV. The distillery produces two types of whisky: peated and unpeated, which both debuted in 2020 with only 100 bottles made of each per year. Broken Bones Whisky is 'a smooth, complex and elegant single malt whisky with unique character combining a strong Slovenian influence with the Scottish whisky-making tradition'. The whiskies are aged in a combination of new Slovene oak wood barrels and used barrels. The distillery's brandy, Broken Bones Jakončič Petreja Vinjak was initially created as a by-product of treating new Slovenian oak barrels for whisky. The distillery teamed up with Brda-based wine maker Jakončič to create the spirit. Earlier this year, the distillery announced its plans to increase production to 20,000 bottles annually by 2027. In 2024, Broken Bones will produce 1,000 bottles of both unpeated and peated whiskies. Last month, the distillery debuted cask-strength versions of its flagship whiskies.