The Rußhexe of Empfingen

Spurred on by an oft-cited herbal curiosity, but even more so by a well-nigh obsessive pursuit of the highest-possible quality, Black Forest Distillers embark on botanical expeditions each year. In 2019, the journey led them into the very depths of the Black Forest on a hunt for … spruce shoots! One in three of the botanicals in Monkey 47 are locally sourced from the Black Forest, and spruce shoots are one of them. Al...

In February 2015, we set out for Sicily – more specifically for the foot of Mount Etna, Europe’s most powerful volcano. Guided by our local expert, Calogero, we visited an old plantation in the Cavagrande region, whose groves of trees were already being weighed down by the lemons we hoped to lend a hand in harvesting. In the Sicilian community of Sant’Alfio, which lies on a plane of lava that cooled...

Once an international villain by trade, Mr Blofeld now lives a secluded life in the northern Black Forest, where he has been running a highly successful Ayurvedic cat salon for four years. We recently managed to convince him to talk with us about the constant passage of time. Mr Blofeld, you started what may be the most successful criminal organisation of the modern age and ran it for more than 40 ...

Along with our oft-cited botanical curiosity, it’s our practically obsessive quest for the highest quality that leads us out on annual botanical expeditions to our suppliers. In late July 2015, we embarked on a journey to the vast lavender fields of Provence, seeking to breathe in the intoxicating scent of the dried blossoms that lend Monkey 47 its incomparable floral aroma. This mission, which we dubbed “Botanical Expedition: Lavendula Angustifolia”, would whisk ...

Upon making his move to the Black Forest – to the Schaberhof and the Wild Monkey distillery, to be precise – the Monkey began turning his surroundings into a picturesque new home. Primates are not all that different from people, after all, and relocating typically offers the opportunity to rearrange the furniture a bit. The minders thus worked with the Markdorf-based coppersmith Arnold Holstein for more than two years on designing and manu...