Latvian beverage producer Dvoretsky Distillery is a family business founded in 2022 that has so far offered niche products: beverages made according to ancient craft methods and recipes. After many years of working with the distillate aging process and seeing both its complexity and the potentially huge market demand for innovation, the company has embarked on a new direction of development in recent years. This has resulted in an innovative reactor that accelerates the aging process of beverages, mimicking the environment and chemical processes of oak barrels, allowing it to achieve in the first few days what would take a year or more in a traditional barrel.
“Our company’s basic philosophy has always been to create a contrast to mass production – to create beverages with character using traditional methods. However, working in this industry, we also see its challenges. The most expensive thing in whiskey, brandy or cognac is not the raw materials – it is time! The years spent in oak barrels are necessary for the beverage to acquire the desired aroma, taste and colour bouquet. The main goal of our innovations is to speed up this process,” says company representative Ivans Dvoreckis.
A new production facility and state support as a springboard
The last few years have been a time of change and rapid growth for the company. Last year, a new production building was purchased in the Dobele region, which the company adapted to the needs of a modern distillery this year with the financial support of the Rural Support Service. It is equipped with new, modern production equipment, and Dvoretsky Distillery moved into the new premises in September this year.
The new production facility now produces the company’s already well-known products – a wide range of alcoholic beverages, including gin, brandy, liqueurs of various flavours, and a Latvian interpretation of the traditional Korean rice drink soju, and new products are also being developed here. Having moved to the modernised premises, the company also plans to actively develop its non-alcoholic beverage segment.
Innovation that simulates the effect of oak barrels
In parallel with production, intensive work has been underway in recent years to develop and improve a beverage aging reactor – a technology that the company hopes to develop into a competitive export product in future.
Traditionally, the aging of beverages in wooden barrels is a process that cannot be fully controlled. The structure of the wood fibres, temperature fluctuations, oxidation dynamics – each of these factors influences the final result and gives it a unique character. That is why producers tend to say that the barrel is a great but unpredictable master.
“When a beverage is poured into a barrel, no one knows exactly what it will be like in a year, two or three years. We can make predictions, but we cannot forecast the final result. This is a risk, and for producers, risk means costs. Time is expensive in this process – barrels must be purchased, warehouses must be maintained, temperature and environmental conditions must be ensured, and regular testing must be carried out. Aging is one of the most costly stages in the entire beverage production process,” explains Mr Dvoreckis.
However, the newly created device does not replace this traditional process, but makes it significantly shorter and more predictable. While in a barrel a beverage is exposed to natural conditions for years, the reactor replicates this in a controlled, precisely managed environment. It simulates the effect of oak barrels on the taste and colour of the beverage and accelerates reactions that would normally only occur during prolonged aging. The reactor creates conditions that allow the beverage to undergo the same processes that normally take place in a barrel – the release of tannins and lignin, the transformation of aroma, taste and colour, and oxidation processes. The difference is that these processes are much more intense here and each parameter can be precisely controlled, allowing producers to achieve stable, repeatable results within a few days.
Three days in the reactor is equivalent to about a year in a barrel
As part of the Innovation Voucher project implemented with the support of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, a prototype of the device was created in collaboration with the Latvian Institute of Wood Chemistry, and a series of tests were carried out. “These processes, of course, depend on various factors and the type of beverage. However, overall, our testing has shown that the first three days in the reactor correspond to about a year in an oak barrel. After that, the processes slow down and the relationship is no longer linear,” Mr Dvoreckis says.
It is precisely this efficiency and the possibility of shortening the aging time of the beverage that creates commercial potential. The company knows that only a few companies in the United States and New Zealand are working on similar solutions, but the methodological approach is different. The company is therefore currently exploring the possibilities of patenting the technological process and management methodology.
“It is important to understand that we do not claim to replace the magic of barrels. However, we can help producers save a year, a year and a half or two years, so that the process can then continue with traditional barrel aging,” Mr Dvoreckis highlights.
How does the global market view the new technology?
The company has already visited several international exhibitions with its newly developed device, and Ivans Dvoreckis jokes that the feedback received has been “geographically colourful”. “The classic European beverage powerhouses – France, Scotland, Ireland, England – are decidedly conservative. There, value lies in tradition, and regulations are very strict. For example, whiskey cannot be called whiskey unless it has been aged in a barrel for at least three years. We fully understand this caution, because traditions are valuable. However, in other regions of the world – and especially among large manufacturing companies – our solution offers enormous potential in terms of both cost and time savings,” Mr Dvoreckis says.
The company is currently receiving the most interest from Asian markets, Latin American rum and tequila producers, and large corporations working in industrial production.
At the same time, the company is developing a marketing and international sales strategy to reach potential customers not only at trade fairs, but also through direct communication. In future, it is planned to actively use the LIAA export promotion programmes to facilitate entry into new markets and strengthen the company’s position in the international environment.
Information material prepared with the support of the European Regional Development Fund
