The National Pálinka Excellence Program 2025 awards were presented

The State Secretary recalled that the Ministry of Agriculture first announced the National Pálink Excellence Program in 2014, whose unwavering goal has been to make high-quality Hungarian pálinkas known both domestically and internationally. He pointed out that if we look back on the last 15-20 years of pálinka and marc pálinka production, it is clear that distillery capacities have expanded significantly and professional knowledge has developed.

András Tállai highlighted that the number of entries – both in terms of distilleries and the items entered – is similar from year to year, which proves that the program enjoys stable and reliable popularity among commercial distilleries.

For the 2025 program, 21 distilleries participated in the competition with a total of 131 items. According to the regulations, 74 items from 18 entrants received certification: 21 items won the TOP Pálinka Excellence title, 39 items received Pálinka Excellence certification, while the number of gold-certified gin, vodka, whiskey, spirits and liqueurs was 8, and the number of silver-certified ones was 6.

This year, the program also awarded the most outstanding businesses and products in several categories. The title of “Ministry of Agriculture Pálinka” was won by the Sáppuszta Pálinka Distillery with its apricots. The title of “Nébih Pálinka” was won by the 1 Csepp Pálinkaház Aurum Pálinka. The Most Successful Pálinka Distillery in 2025 was the Sáppuszta Pálinka Distillery. The Best Gin award was won by the Flying Emu Gin of the Sáppuszta Pálinka Distillery, while the title of the Most Successful Gin and Other Spirits Production Enterprise was awarded to the Győr Liquor Factory Zrt. / Pannonhalma Pálinkárium.