Lantenhammer Distillery from Hausham near Lake Schliersee since 1928
The Lantenhammer Distillery is a family distillery from Hausham near Lake Schliersee in Upper Bavaria, founded in 1928 as a gentian distillery. Over the years, it has developed its own brands, including Josef Gin, Rumult Rum, and the Raritas liqueur line. At the Meininger publishing house's spirits competition, it was named Distillery of the Year for the sixth time in 2026.
Lantenhammer Distillery stands for Bavarian distilling art that has never been limited to fruit brandy. What began in 1928 with gentian now encompasses fine brandies, spirits, liqueurs, gin, and rum, distilled in an experience distillery made of concrete and larch wood at Josef-Lantenhammer-Platz in Hausham. The facility is designed for an output of around 100,000 liters per year, and its doors are open to anyone who wants to watch the distilling process.
Forty Marks from the Currency Reform
Amalie and Josef Lantenhammer founded their own gentian distillery in the Agatharied district of Hausham in 1928, at that time alongside a wine trade and lemonade production.
In 1935, the business moved to Urtlbach Straße in Schliersee. Small copper stills stood there, and the associated shop became known far beyond the region for its spirited treasures. The Second World War put an end to this for the time being, and the distillery was closed.
In 1948, Josef Lantenhammer invested the first forty Deutsche Marks from the currency reform in a new beginning. Forty marks—there was no more—became a passion that now sustains three generations.
In 1960, the daughter, Annelise, married Siegfried Stetter, who joined the business as her husband. Both sons, Florian and Anton, grew up among the stills, and trained brewer Florian joined in 1985. As a master distiller, he expanded the business into a fine brandy distillery, focusing on the best fruits rather than quantity. In 2010, he handed over the management to his brother Anton, who expanded the product range with numerous new ideas.
A Bet for a Crate of Wheat Beer
In 1994, Florian Stetter went on a study trip to Scotland with colleagues, and what he saw there seemed familiar.
The hilly landscape, the clear water, the pure air—all of it reminded him of home. So why shouldn't one be able to distill whisky in Bavaria? A bet was made for a crate of wheat beer, and the idea was put into action.
In 1999, the first Bavarian single malt came onto the market, named after Slyrs, the monastery that five monks are said to have founded in the area in 779, from which the name Schliersee is derived. The idea was certainly smirked at initially, because a long-established fruit distillery and whisky did not go together in many people's minds.
Today, Bavarian whisky naturally stands next to Scotch on the shelf. However, the sales partnership with Slyrs ended on February 1, 2022; since then, that brand has gone its own way as an independent company. The house's whisky has been called SILD ever since and came to Upper Bavaria via a stake in the Sylt distillery.
From Gentian to Rum to Gin
Today, the range extends from clear fruit brandies to spirits and liqueurs, all the way to rum, gin, and whisky, which is unusually broad for a distillery of this size.
In the beginning, there was gentian, and it remains the most laborious item in the house to this day. A gentian brandy requires the root of the yellow gentian, which grows for many years before it can even be harvested. Anyone who starts with this has learned patience before filling their first barrel.
The fine brandies are the oldest branch. Williams pear, mirabelle, apple, and the wooden-barrel fruit brandy aged in French Limousin casks represent how everything started here. How a brandy tastes is decided long before the still, namely during the gentle mashing of the ripe fruit.
Later, the Josef Gin was added, named after the founder and made from juniper, hay flowers, hops, and rose hips. Rumult Bavarian Rum takes things even further away from Bavaria, at least in terms of raw materials, as sugar cane syrup travels from Mauritius to Upper Bavaria to be distilled there using the pot-still method.
The youngest line is called Raritas and consists of liqueurs. The egg liqueur with orange spirit is the most famous of these, alongside apricot, blackcurrant, bergamot, walnut, chocolate with hazelnut, and the liqueur made from planed stone pine wood.
Four Copper Stills and a Lot of Time
In 2014, the distillery moved from Schliersee back to Hausham into a new building costing around 2.5 million euros and covering 1,000 square meters, which houses four stills.
Concrete meets larch wood there, workshop meets visitor center, and tastings take place on the first floor. The house has thus returned to its place of origin and distills there just as it did nearly a hundred years ago, albeit with modern technology.
Anyone traveling in the area can take a look. The experience distillery is located at Josef-Lantenhammer-Platz in Hausham, between Lake Schliersee and Lake Tegernsee, and it was expressly built for visitors, not just for production.
The craft itself has remained slow. For the gin, the juniper macerates in potato alcohol for up to three weeks before it is even distilled, and then for another eight hours. The rum ages for years in bourbon, cognac, Madeira, and sherry casks.
The Raritas liqueurs are not produced in Hausham but in the Tegernsee Palace Distillery, where the historical Lantenhammer stills are located. Distiller Christina Kölbl leads this line and works in batches of only 200 liters each. The labels feature the Wolpertinger, that shy mythical creature of Bavarian legend, encountering which is said to be about as rare as a truly successful drop.
The Jury Keeps Returning to Hausham
At Meininger's International Spirits Award, the largest German spirits competition, Lantenhammer was named Distillery of the Year for the sixth time in 2026, with 30 medals for the house.
This series began in 2020, followed by the title year after year. 2024 was particularly impressive, with 24 medals collected, including twenty in gold and two in grand gold. The Raritas egg liqueur with orange spirit was declared the best distillate of the entire competition at that time and took home two special titles: Spirit of the Year and Egg Liqueur of the Year.
“The fifth consecutive award as ‘Distillery of the Year’ is an honor and an obligation at the same time,” said Tobias Maier at the time, who has managed the house since 2018 and started as an apprentice just over twenty years ago. In 2026, gold was added for the Josef Gin Alpine Botanicals, among others, which was also voted Organic Spirit of the Year. Much respect.
Where Best to Start
Anyone who does not yet know the distillery should reach for the Best of Bavaria gift set, in which four miniatures from the house stand side by side.
If, on the other hand, it is about a gift for someone whose taste you know, the matter is simpler. For Easter breakfast, there's egg liqueur; for a fireside evening, rum; for a snack at the mountain hut, stone pine liqueur. And after a heavy meal, the fruit brandy is brought to the table without anyone needing to discuss it.
For gin, it is worth taking a look at the rest of our gin range, and for the brandies at our fruit brandies from various producers. And anyone who likes Bavarian distilling art will find a Westphalian counterpart with a similar attitude to the craft in the Feinbrennerei Sasse from Münsterland.
