Alexandre The Great was a conqueror. During his reign of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon he expanded his empire into many other countries, making him one of the most notorious rulers of his time. Now there is a company striving for similar success in the drinks industry.

The Alexandrion Group, Romania’s largest producer of alcoholic beverages, was actually named after the ancient Greek leader and is fast becoming a substantial international player.

In 2017, it made Cyprus the home of its international business and it is now buying vineyards, building distilleries and exporting its products all around the globe.

The group recorded a 25% growth in turnover for the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. This is equivalent to 5.24m liters from 4.4m.

Despite the surge of international growth, Alexandrion’s domestic market is still important and according to the company, the Romanian spirits market was up 6% in 2018. The majority of its sales are generated from wine distillates, particularly its 5 and 7 Star brandies which are dominant in the Romanian spirits market.

As well as owning Saber Elyzia liqueurs, Alexandrion has vodka and gin brands, but the group wants to conquer more.

INNOVATION

The group is trying to push innovation across all of its products, including the introduction of the first Romanian single malt whisky. Leading this operation is former Loch Lomond distillery manager Allan Anderson and he’s serious about the project. “I wouldn’t have committed to the project if I didn’t think the product could be good,” he says.

While the whisky is still in the ageing process, Anderson wants to add a variety of pot stills on top of the four already in place at the distillery in Bucharest.

From whisky to whiskey, Alexandrion has it covered. In 2018, the group announced a US$40m investment into a whiskey distillery in the US. The project is expected to begin distillation in the third or fourth quarter of 2020 and Alexandrion CEO Stelios Savva (pictured) says the company will immediately export its products outside the US, which will cover the operational costs, before slowly integrating its whiskey back to the US market. The company’s work in the US is expected to create 500 jobs State Side over five years and the Alexandrion as a whole doubled in size between 2017-18.