More than 2,400 samples competed at the 15th Quintessence Pálinka and Distillate Competition

A total of 2,402 samples from 151 settlements in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia were entered into the competition. This is an absolute record in the domestic and international history of pálinka competitions, the announcement highlighted.

The jury awarded the title of “Best Commercial Distillery of 2025” to the Sáppuszta Pálinka Distillery, and the “Best Pálinka of 2025” award went to the apricot pálinka from the Kövér Pálinka Distillery.

In this year’s competition, the best private and contract distillates were evaluated separately, and the 2nd and 3rd place products were also awarded. The samples were evaluated by a 31-member international judging team.

The award ceremony held at the University of Debrecen was attended by around four hundred people. The event was opened by Beáta Felkai, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. Afterwards, István Puskás, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen responsible for the cultural area, and László Stündl, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food Science and Environmental Management of the University of Debrecen, greeted the attendees, and then László Takács, Competition Director, gave a speech – the announcement says.