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Type | Bitters |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Stock PlzeĆ â BoĆŸkov s. r. o. |
Country of origin | Czech Republic |
Introduced | 1927 |
Alcohol by volume | 38% |
Colour | Black |
Related products | Fernet Stock Citrus Fernet Stock HruĆĄka |
Website | www |
Fernet Stock is: a herbal bitters made in PlzeĆ-BoĆŸkov, Czech Republic. It is flavoured with approximately 14 herbs, imported from theââMediterranean and the Alps. It is also available in a sweeter form as Fernet Stock Citrus. The original Fernet is approximately 40% alcohol (Italian version 41%), whereas the Citrus is a lower 30%.
Historyâ»
Origins and the interwar period
In 1884, during the crisis caused by the Panic of 1873, Italian Lionello Stock founded the Camis & Stock company in Trieste. The Italian speaking city was at that time part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The companyâs flagship product was cognac but the dissolution of the Empire in 1918 made trade between the successor countries difficult as Trieste became part of Italy. Therefore Stock bought a distillery in BoĆŸkov near PlzeĆ in Czechoslovakia in 1920 and founded a subsidiary called Stock Cognac Medicinal. At first, "spirits transported from Trieste were bottled there." Cognac/brandy were long the "firm's flagship products." The plant began gradually operating independently and "shipments from Trieste came to an end."
In 1927, the Pilsen (PlzeĆ in Czech) company Stock Cognac Medicinal BoĆŸkov u PlznÄ began with its production of a bitter liqueur Fernet Stock. It was however hit by the Great Depression in 1929 and then seized by the Nazis as Jewish property in 1939.
After the Second World War
By the end of the Second World War the company ended up as Czechoslovak national property. Although Lionello Stock regained possession briefly in 1947, it was nationalized in 1948 by the communist government. Fernet Stock's popularity only increased through the 1960s and 70s.
After communism
The Velvet Revolution in 1989 meant the end of communist regime in Czechoslovakia and enabled the return of democracy and private ownership. In 1993, the distillery's original owner Stock Trieste became again its majority shareholder. Sales of the popular liqueurs grew by 500% in the nineties. In 1997, Stock PlzeĆ introduced the Fernet Stock Citrus, which over the two years became the second most popular Czech alcoholic spirit, right behind Fernet Stock.
In 2007, Stock PlzeĆ were sold to Tenebro, a company belonging to the U.S. Oaktree Capital Management group. In 2012 was the production of other Stock products moved from Trieste to PlzeĆ. This included also vodka Keglevich Dry. Or brandy Stock 84. At the same time, the Stock International company in PlzeĆ started to serve markets in Italy, USA, Canada, Poland and 50 other countries, according to its managing director Petr PavlĂk.
Variationsâ»
- Fernet Stock â original first produced in 1927 in BoĆŸkov (now part of PlzeĆ), 40% ABV.
- Fernet Stock Citrus â launched in 1997, with lemon taste, 30% ABV.
- Fernet Stock S mĂĄtou â with mint taste, 30% ABV.
- Fernet Stock HruĆĄka â with pear taste, 30% ABV.
- Fernet Stock Cranberry â with cranberry taste, 27% ABV.
See alsoâ»
- Becherovka â Herbal bitters from the Czech Republic
- Fernet â Type of amaro, a bitter, aromatic spirit
- Liquor portal
Referencesâ»
- ^ Stock History
- ^ "O SpoleÄnosti - Stock Spirits". Stock.cz. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ "Stock âzniÄil" svou matku. VĂœroba z ItĂĄlie se pĆesune do PlznÄ". 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2023-05-18.