It may have lost its name, but it is still winning prizes.
Cristinalda – the honey liqueur made since 1955 in Portimão by the local Cristina family, but which lost its original ‘Brandymel’ title in a legal wrangle last year – has been awarded a gold medal in the ‘Liqueur – Honey’ category of the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) in London earlier this month.
“There couldn’t be a better way to celebrate the liqueur’s 60th anniversary,” the Cristina family says in a statement.
The family dedicates the award to the tipple’s founder, Oliveiros Cristina, “who always said how important it is to use high-quality Portuguese honey and age liqueur in oak barrels”.
Hopes now are that the medal may also help the drink gain popularity abroad, as there are “numerous importers who focus on the IWSC hoping to find new and special products”.
Now being run by the third generation of Cristinas, the liqueur has been on the market under the name ‘Cristinalda’ as it prepares to launch yet another new name – Dom Cristina.
But whatever the name, the recipe is the same: water, alcohol, brandy, honey and natural plant extracts aged for at least eight months in oak barrels.
The delicious honey liqueur won its first gold medal at IWSC in 2005.
For the story on how Brandymel lost its household name, see Dom Cristina – the regional liqueur that lost its name)
