Slivovitz

Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). Slivovitz is produced in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, both commercially and privately. Primary producers include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. In the Balkans, slivovitz is considered a kind of rakia. In Hungary it is considered a kind of pálinka, but in Romania and Moldova it is considered pălincă, similar to țuică. In Czechia, Slovakia, Galicia, and Carpathian-Ruthenia it is considered Pálenka. UNESCO put it in a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2022 on request of the country of geographic origin Serbia. The word slivovitz derives from Proto-Slavic *sliva "plum" (слива, švestka or slíva, śliwka, šljiva/шљива, or slivka) with the diminutive suffix *-ica (/-ɪtsa/; -ice in Czech). Distilled spirits from different fruits are named similarly. For example, Czech meruňka apricot → meruňkovice apricot spirit; broskev peach → broskvovice peach spirit. Other names include slivovitza, slivovitsa, șliboviță, šljivovica, śliwowica, Schlivowitz, slivovice, slivovica or slivovka. The primary producers are Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. Following the claims of several nations to the protected designation of origin, in October 2007 the European Union went for a compromise solution, leaving "slivovitz" as a generic name, and granting individual nations the right to protect the origin with their own adjective. In respective languages, slivovitz (ˈslɪvəvɪts) is known as: сливова, сливовица; slivovice; Slivovits,Sliwowitz, Slibowitz; sligovica; slivovitz; сливова; śliwowica; şliboviţă; сливовица; šljivovica; шљивовица; slivovica; slivovka; слив'янка; and שליוואָוויץ. Identical or similar spirits are also produced in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, and regional names include generic plum spirit, Pflümli, or eau-de-vie de quetsche.