But before jumping into world of the Bolyhos Pálinka here is a little knot to keep in mind …Y our going to be dealing with “WHOA” … „Fire Water” as Americans call it. The Hungarians like to say and believe that it is good to have a shot pálinka in small amounts cause it is medicine, in large amounts a remedy, but maybe after the first sip might think otherwise.
László Bolyhos owner of the distillery spoke about the past/present at this year’s OMÉK – Hungexpo Fair. By the following: Going back in time by saying, the first records of pálinka date back to the 14th century. It was referred to as “Aqua vitae reginae Hungaria” or in English as “the aqua vitae of King Charles of Hungary”. This spirit was most likely a pálinka already, blended with rosemary, and was used as a medicine for the king and the queen, both of whom suffered from arthritis. For centuries it was a drink that peasants made in their backyard, however in the 17th century an official act put an end to all that. In 2002 pálinka was recognized by the EU as a Hungaricum – an alcoholic drink, distilled from fruits, with an alcohol content a minimum of 37.5%.
Bolyhos Pálinka Distillery – Then after talked about the Bolyhos family run distillery, As he said, it was as to follow the ideas of the founder László Bolyhos, who has dealt with pálinka distillation since 1994 in their factory at Újszilvási. Continued, thanks to the development, in accordance of the requirements of the European Union, they have conducted since 2003 commercial distillation as well. Their aim is, that pálinka should become once again an appreciated, regularly and responsibly consumed national drink. Beside the traditional small pot distillation, they also distill with aroma column equipment, later it is used mainly for their 40 and 50 proof bedded pálinka. Pálinka has a long time history, and the major of the Hungarians have at least once have had the experience to taste one or two of the fruity pálinka, but as for the growing up new generation, reaching the adult age to drink alcohol, it is their time to get to know the idea and taste the different kind of fruits in bottles of pálinka. Now a word or two about the Bolyhos Pálinka itself and the Distilling Pálinka and Bedded Pálinka.
Bolyhos Bedded Pálinka – The creation of the Bolyhos „Bedded Pálinka” took them years of experimenting, it is made of 100% culinary quality. Contains well grown, healthy fruits which have high sugar and aroma. What does the Bedded Pálinka stand for? … The bedded pálinka is aged on a dried fruit bed with a fine fruit aroma, bedded pálinka’s alcohol content is 50% (V/V). The simple (not fruit infused) pálinka are made with 40% alcohol content. During the bottling process they put the home-made dried fruits into the bottle and pour on the pálinka … of the same fruit … on it to start the three-month aging procedure. Through this time the dried fruits regain their original size and give a nice natural color to the pálinka. The „fruit bed” makes the pálinka richer in taste and visibly appetizing. They believe that only the highest quality of the pálinka is worthy to be aged on fruits, that is why they put a lot of effort to provide the best materials for the constantly supervised distilling process.
As to promote the quality bedded (ágyas) pálinka, they created the Újszilvási Ágyaspálinka Festival and was a grand gathering visited by several ten thousands of people. Thanks to the continuous expansion they await the customers with a sample shop and a pálinka tasting house, which satisfy all demands. These days they produce 11 types of pálinka and lavender spirit on a commercial volume. These are Quince, Sour Cherry, Black Cherry, Golden and Jonathan Apples, Irsai Olivér and other fruits i.e.: grape, apricot, plum, mixed fruits and Williams pear pálinka.
The Bolyhos pálinka regularly receives awards, lately at the Quintessence Pálinka Competition organized by the Cultural Association of Onga. The Bolyhos Ágyas plum pálinka was named as the best pálinka with a distribution of more than 10,000 bottles and won the title for the most successful pálinka distillery. The committee also handed out lifetime achievement award to distiller László Bolyhos who have contributed to the emergence of the pálinka industry and received the following awards Bed Irsai Oliver Grape – Gold, Irsai Oliver Grape – Gold, Bed Quince – Bronze, Bed Plum – Bronze, Gypsy Cherry – Bronze, Bed Cherry – Silver, Bed Apricot- Silver, Quince – Silver.
Bolyhos Pálinka packages are everywhere recognizable not just in Budapest’s liquor stores and supermarkets and because of its unique package and bottle designs easy to spot it out. Having second thoughts to the forthcoming Xmas holidays, so if wish to take back home as a gift of your tasted and found delicious pálinka and share it with friends … as the song says “don’t worry be happy” still there is an option to buy at the Budapest Airport Duty Shop.
Update Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 