Distillery Mitic

Distillery ""Mitic"" officially started operating on April 27, 2010 with the main activity - Distillation, purification and mixing of beverages. It has been producing domestic brandy for years with great success, and the idea of mass production for the market came during 2006. The tradition of brandy production in the Mitic family dates back 100 years. Our great-grandfather, the boss Mita, after whom we also bear the surname Mitic, was the only one in Ristovac and its surroundings to have a brick still in his possession. In the period between the two world wars, as well as later, people from the entire area brought loads of plums, kabuka and apricots, and they distilled brandy on that still. The season lasted for several months, and the still did not go out. As soon as dawn broke, people gathered in the yard. Relatives, friends, neighbors came. Grandma would bring out watermelon jam, cold water from the well and brandy. First, Grandpa would stand in front of a large brick still in which brandy was baked, cross himself and bless: ""This year as well as last, and next what God forbid""! There would be a gathering accompanied by a song in honor of the famous Ristovac toast. After the end of the brandy roasting season, boss Mita took the pipe off the still, put it in the basement and said to the family: ""Children, this is the GOLDEN PIPE, it kept us safe in the most difficult times, keep it when the better days come."" We keep that bequest to this day, through three generations of the Mitic family. The family farm of 3 hectares in the area of the village of Ristovac, which is located 10 km south of Vranje, on the old Serbian-Turkish border, is registered as an agricultural farm and about 1,200 hectares of plums and 200 apple seedlings are planted on some 2.5 hectares. The brandy was distilled on two small copper stills with a volume of 120 liters each, and the finished distillate was placed in wooden barrels with a volume of 100 liters. The family house and auxiliary buildings were renovated in accordance with the Law, a production plant - distillery was built and cellars were equipped for storing and maturing brandy. Today, brandy is produced in copper stills with a volume of 350 liters of fruit that are in full maturity, in the traditional way, without artificial additives and aromas, and is stored in wooden, oak and acacia barrels with a volume of 200 liters. The production of brandy takes place in the following way: after ripening, the raw material is purchased from verified suppliers from the region, its dry matter content is measured and placed in plastic barrels where the process of controlled fermentation takes place. After the end of this process, the first desitlation begins, ie. production of so-called soft brandy with an average strength of 25-30 degrees. In the next phase, redistillation or so-called toast of brandy where a finished product with an average strength of 50 degrees is obtained. The finished distillate is placed in wooden barrels (oak and acacia) where the aging process takes a minimum of 8 weeks Currently plum fruit brandy called ""GOLDEN PIPE"" is their main product, officially the best brandy in Southern Serbia, then fruit apple brandy, as well as grape brandy (vine).