Tastebrandy organized a trip to Kovilj Monastery with an old customer and friend from the UK. It was a surprise trip, as the friend and his wife were not told where they would be taken. Just to wear long trousers. In the middle of August 2015, wearing long trousers might sounded as an odd request.   

Why Kovilj Monastery is of interest to tastebrandy? Because it has an excellent distillery and produces wide known brandy.

 

KOVILJ MONASTERY HISTORY

The Monastery of St Archangels Michael and Gabriel in a quiet village of Kovilj, 30 km from provincial capital Novi Sad, was founded in the 13th century on a spot where St Sava, prince and the first archbishop of independent Serbian Orthodox Church, healed the son of Hungarian King Andrew II. It was destroyed several times during his lifetime.

For example, we found data that it was a female Monastery in 1933. In 1941 Hungarian occupiers banished female monks in the Fruska Gora monastery Fenek and Kovilj Monastery was abandoned.

Its Prior until recently Bishop Porfirije got a blessing decades ago to settle in a deserted monastery and start rebuilding it.

 

MONASTERY NOWADAYS

Kovilj Monastery is one of the best known and most influential in Serbia and Serbian Orthodox Church nowadays. Its brotherhood counts 30 monks. 4 bishops belonged to the brotherhood once: Bishop Porfirije (now a Metropolitan of Zagreb, Slovenia and Italy); Bishop Fotije (now bishop of Dalmatia, Croatia); Bishop Andrej (now bishop of Austria and Switzerland) and Bishop Jeronim (Vicar Bishop). It is regarded as nurseries of good and devoted monks and one of the most progressive monasteries in Serbia.

The Monastery cherishes the tradition of Byzantine cantillation. There are monks from Bulgaria, New Zealand and Slovakia in the brotherhood. The Slovak orthodox monk is an ophthalmologist, so they have a dispensary for the people from the Kovilj village.

Besides, Monastery governs and supports a community of about 250 former drug addicts settled on 6 locations throughout Vojvodina. The community is called “The Land of the Living People” (Zemlja zivih) and combines working and prayer as a therapy. They have very good results, as we were told.

 

BRANDY PRODUCTION

We made a trip to the Monastery few days ago and visited monk Kalinik who is in charge of brandy production. Kalinik is not a professional in brandy distilling: his love towards fruit and fruit processing dates back several years ago. The Monastery distills excellent plum brandy at least 4 years old. The slivovitz is aged in brandy new oak barrels in the Monastery cellars. The fruit originates from their own 4 ha orchards and is being purchased in Cacak, Borca, Ostruznica, etc.

The brandy is distilled of plum (most praised!), apricot, Williams pear, quince. Plum and quince brandy age in oak and they owe their excellent amber colour to the barrels. Apricot and pear brandy are being “calmed” in prochrome pots, as these two are supposed to remain colourless. Plum brandy is mixed with ground up green walnut and left to age: they get a very tasty Green Walnut Liqueur.

Kalinik managed to master a technique of “distilling apple juice”, some sort of cider but much stronger. Or Calvados, some might say. Ripe apples are smashed and juice is extracted. The juice is left to ferment for 3 weeks and fermented juice is distilled in traditional way. Then it is left to age in oak for at least 4 years. This cider has  alcoholic strength of 40% v/v. It is called Arkanj after the swamp on the Danube near the Monastery.

 

QUALITY

Kovilj brandy is wide known nowadays for its excellent quality, not so high price, aroma and fragrance that conquer everybody’s palate. We witnessed it ourselves.