Where every drop carries its own story
A family distillery in Belgrade. Plum and quince, distilled in small batches and left to rest in oak.
Melem
The name came from the house, not from an agency
Melem is the old Serbian word for a balm, the thing that soothes and heals and gets kept for the occasions that deserve it. When the first batch went into the barrel, no other name came to mind.
We distil very little. Little enough that we remember each batch by its year and by the orchard it came from.
Story
A little fruit, a lot of time
We pick the fruit ourselves, from orchards we know by the owner's name. Nothing is bought in bulk and nothing reaches the still before it is fully ripe.
After the distilling it comes down to wood and patience. The spirit stays in oak until the edge is gone and the colour has arrived, and no batch does that on schedule.
That is why the label carries a year rather than a batch number
Family reserve
The rakija
Two spirits, one hand
Both go into oak and both are bottled by hand, one batch at a time.
Plum rakija
- Family reserve
- Matured in oak barrels
- Produced in Serbia
Rakija
Plum
Prunus domestica
The plums ferment on their own wild yeast, with nothing added, then go to the copper still. We cut the heads and tails by nose, not by the clock.
In the glass
Dried plum and vanilla, a wisp of smoke behind them. Warm in the throat, with no bite.
- Alcohol
- 40.0 % vol
- Volume
- 0.7 l
- Maturation
- Oak barrel
- Origin
- Serbia
Quince rakija
- Family reserve
- Matured in oak barrels
- Produced in Serbia
Rakija
Quince
Cydonia oblonga
We pick quince late, once a single crate can scent a whole room. It goes to the still the same week, so the perfume ends up in the spirit instead of the air.
In the glass
Honey, quince blossom and lemon peel. Fresh, soft, long.
- Alcohol
- 40.0 % vol
- Volume
- 0.7 l
- Maturation
- Oak barrel
- Origin
- Serbia
How we distil
Four steps, none of them skipped
- 01
Orchard
Picked ripe and distilled fresh. A few days at most pass between the tree and the still.
- 02
Still
Copper pot, small batches. The heart is cut by nose, which is exactly why no two batches match.
- 03
Oak
The barrel works while we wait. It takes the colour, lifts the edge and gives back vanilla.
- 04
Bottle
Filled by hand, batch by batch. The label carries the year the spirit came from.
Limited release
MELEM 20
Old & Rare, twenty years in oak
The oldest thing we have. Plum, distilled three times, laid down in oak and left there for twenty years.
The barrel takes its share over that time. What is left of a batch at the end is very little, so every bottle carries its own number.
In the glass
Dark topaz. Vanilla, cinnamon, dried fruit, almond and toasted oak. A long, soft finish with no trace of fire.
- Age
- 20 years
- Distillation
- Triple
- Alcohol
- 40.0 % vol
- Volume
- 0.75 l
Where to find us
Poured around Belgrade
Melem sits on the shelf in a handful of Belgrade bars and restaurants. The list grows as we do.
- Ljubica, Belgrade
Running a bar and want Melem on the list? Get in touch and we will sort it out.
Contact
Say hello
For orders, trade enquiries and gift packaging, write to us or find us on Instagram.
- info@melemrakija.rs
- Phone
- +381 63 271 778
- @melem_rakija
- Address
- Belgrade, Serbia