Jullius Distillery
The man behind Jullius Distillery in Israel is Yuval J. Hargil (also known as Joov), a former restaurant critic with a huge interest in spirits. He launched his distillery in 2008 and has since been using solely local ingredients, such as the citrus fruit Etrog, mandarin, prickly pear, fig, and a number of varieties of grapes. Everything is produced naturally with no added sugar, caramel, or coloring. Distillation takes place in a copper alembic still heated via solar energy, and only spring water is added to the spirit.
Yuval Hargil (Joov) foraging for botanicals
The first artisanal distillery in Israel – farm to bottle spirits
When Jullius opened the distillery in the spring of 2008, they had only one dream in mind: to produce the finest spirits in Israel, made from locally grown ingredients, utilizing craft distillation methods.
Throughout this long process, which they like to think of as walking on the edge of a cliff while a bit tipsy, the Jullius dream was paving an untrodden way with a new category of alcoholic beverages in Israel: authentic, local, super-premium spirits.
Jullius is the first in Israel to distill spirits from a variety of local fruits like citron, mandarin, prickly pear, fig, and a number of varieties of grape pomace. Many of these ingredients are not only biologically native, but also reflect the local cultures and traditions.
The Jullius vision is to produce only spirits that they love to drink themselves. Pure distillates, without any additives or shortcuts – alcohol that is produced in harmony with the environment we live in.
Jullius’ two-tone copper alembic runs on solar energy, and its refrigerating and condensation system is four times more efficient than most old-fashioned distilling systems Above all, the unique fractionating column enables Jullius to capture and concentrate the most natural fruit flavors and aromas possible. Working in small batches allows them to collect only the purest extracted heart of the distillate. For this reason, they do not need to add anything to the final product – no sugar, acid, flavoring, nor coloring. A good distillation is like a good poem – a refined work which encapsulates a moment, an evasive mood, which one must seize at the exactly right time; because once that moment is gone, it’s lost forever.
The Jullius manifesto
Local ingredients
Natural raw materials
Handmade
Small batches
Solar powered distillation
Water recycling
Waste recycling
No added sugar
No colorants
JulLius Distillery expressions
Our offerings from Jullius will change over time. At the moment, the following products are available in the US:
Marc de Galilée
Jullius Marc de Galilee is made from the pomace of red grape varieties, mainly Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah. After distillation, the spirit is aged for at least 36 months in used French and American oak barrels that were previously used to age white wines at wineries in the Galilee region. When creating this aged brandy, distiller Joov was inspired by the classic Marcs of the Northern Rhone Valley and Burgundy.
Akko Wild Gin of Galilee
This grape spirit-based gin is made with 12 different botanicals that grow wild in Galilee. These include cade juniper, myrtle, olive, fig, citron, coriander, mandarin and cedar of Lebanon.
Each botanical is individually distilled, and Jullius uses fresh ingredients to make this gin, rather than the usual dried botanicals. As a result, it’s unlike any gin you’ve tasted and it walks a fine line between eau de vie and gin.
Slivovitz
Jullius Slivovitz is made from Israeli black diamond plums and local spring water. Over 10,000 pounds of fresh picked plums from local farms are washed, de-stoned, and mashed before being fermented for 14 days
The mash is then distilled in a copper pot still to 80% abv before being diluted to 42% abv and rested for six months in stainless steel tanks before bottling. Think baked fruit, sweet spice, with a delicate, plummy flavor profile.
PACKING INFO
Akko Wild Gin of Galilee
Bottle Size: 750ml
Number of bottles per case: 6 bottles
Weight of a case: 8.27kg, 18.23lbs
BAR CODE: 726 670 331 618
Marc de Galilee
Bottle Size: 750ml
Number of bottles per case: 6 bottles
Weight of a case: 7.67kg, 17lbs
BAR CODE: 726 670 331 540
Slivovitz
Bottle Size: 750ml
Number of bottles per case: 6 bottles
Weight of a case: 8.27kg, 18.23lbs
BAR CODE: 726 670 000 000