Bijeli Gusak is a genuine family farm, with every family member involved in production: Ivana, Emerik, and their three daughters. Emerik remains the master distiller, though.

Concours International de Lyon 2025 gold for the wormwood liqueur Pelin, silver for the elderflower liqueur - these are the latest international recognitions for the Bijeli Gusak sistillery from Đakovo (www.bijeli-gusak.com).

Founded in 2013 by Emerik Pišl, a journalist by profession, and Ivana Petrošanec Pišl, an agricultural engineer, the family farm Bijeli Gusak began with planting  plum and apple orchards. Now, those orchards of nearly two hectares of plums, some apples, and 4.4 hectares of walnuts yield plenty of organic fruit.

Following Slavonian tradition and simple good sense, fruit that isn’t eaten fresh should never go to waste. For the Bijeli Gusak family, that meant turning it into premium fruit brandies and liqueurs. Ivana and Emerik launched their distillery in 2019.

Their production started during the COVID-19 pandemic, truly a baptism by fire, yet Bijeli Gusak has firmly established itself on the market. The foundation of their production lies in fruit brandies — plum, apple, pear (Williams), and apricot — made from their own fruit and that of nearby producers. And then there’s the gin — the product that quickly put them on the map. Soon after starting the distillery, Bijeli Gusak became only the second producer in Slavonia and Baranja to make gin, and their No. 1 Gin immediately won gold.

“When we created it, we kept experimenting by adding ingredients, testing, weighing, distilling, until we achieved something unique. Stylistically, it’s a New western style gin, which means it doesn’t follow conservative standards but reflects the new trends of craft distilling,” says Emerik. Based on that award-winning gin, they later developed Sloe Gin, a premium product made from wild blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) that grows near their organic orchards. “How much do we produce? Well, as much as the birds leave us,” Emerik laughs.

Over the years, they have expanded their production to include brandy, vodka, and several liqueurs. The Pelin liqueur, as proven by its gold medal in Lyon, is of exceptional quality, while the elderflower liqueur has become a local trendsetter.

“We’re proud of our gins, but fruit brandies still reign supreme,” says Emerik. In just five years, the Bijeli Gusak brandies, gins, and liqueurs have won dozens of medals for quality at national and international competitions.

“We send our products to competitions mainly to test them and to hear what the experts think. Medals are a confirmation that we’re on the right track. We experiment, we play, and we truly enjoy creating new drinks. I can’t resist tweaking every new batch a little — within the rules of the craft, of course — and that’s what makes each one unique. I believe that’s the biggest advantage of craft distilleries,” emphasizes Emerik.

All their products can be tasted and purchased at their tasting room in Đakovo (Petra Preradovića Street 124) or in their online shop (www.white-goose-distillery.my-online.store).

And as the story comes full circle — the name Bijeli Gusak (white gander in Croatian) isn’t by chance. It was inspired by a real white gander that once proudly led the Pišl family’s flock on their farm.

Written by: Igor Mikulić