Maribor honey’s half-century legacy captured in unique brand

750 kilogrammes of honey, forgotten and stowed away in a cellar in the Maribor area for more than half a century, have been given a new life recently as they were distilled into honey brandy.

The exact age of the honey could not be determined but it has been estimated to be between 47 and 60 years old, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The honey belonged to the late beekeeper Franc Kirar (1893-1978) who kept bees for 65 years and at times had as many as 750 beehives.

Kirar was also an innovator. Dissatisfied with the beehives available at the time, he designed his own, known as the Kirar hive, which is still in use today. He also passed on many insights to younger beekeepers on honey production and queen rearing.

The batch of his honey, a mix of flower and forest honey, was gifted by Kirar's grand-daughter to distiller Bojan Lunežnik to create honey brandy.

Hoping to bring together tradition, heritage and innovation, Lunežnik melted the honey, cleaned it and distilled it to create the drink.

The brandy was aged with the addition of wood for a stronger honey aroma and a slight woody taste. The drink with 39.8% ABV is soft and very aromatic and has a colour similar to that of rum or whiskey.

In total only 555 bottles of honey brandy have been crafted. Most are available for purchase, while the makers and Kirar's family will keep some of them. One of the first bottles, #3, has been gifted to the Maribor Museum of the Oldest Vine.

The bottles are packaged with real honeycomb in a box that resembles Kirar's beehive. They are priced at €1,893 apiece, in memory of Kirar's birth year. Their new owners will be able to learn about the story of the honey through a VR experience they will access through their phones.