🥃 Szabolcs apple pálinka (Szabolcsi Almapálinka)

Szabolcs apple pálinka (Szabolcsi Almapálinka) is a Hungarian EU geographical indication for pálinka from apples grown in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county in north-eastern Hungary. The apples are used together with their flesh, and mashing, fermentation, distillation, ageing, resting and bottling are carried out only within the county.

The name has been protected in the EU since 23 September 2003 (PGI-HU-02039). According to the technical file, the county produces 52–56 % of Hungary's apples — 300–450 thousand tonnes — and apple trees occupy about half of its orchards. They were planted to anchor the quickly warming sandy soils of the Nyírség region. As late as the end of the 19th century almost half of the country's distilleries operated here.

The Jonathan, Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Idared varieties predominate. The fruit must be ripe to overripe, free of mould, with dry matter of 12 % or more and total acidity of 0.27 % or more. Fermentation lasts 7–14 days at 18–22 °C; barrels were once sealed with clay, now film or a fermentation lock is used. Distillation is double fractional in a still with a copper surface or equivalent.

Strength is 40–86 % vol., methanol up to 1200 g/hl, volatile substances from 200 g/hl of pure alcohol. Flavourings, colourings and sugar are prohibited. Young pálinka is colourless, aged pálinka yellowish or amber; ageing in wood is at least 3 months in barrels of up to 1000 l or 6 months in larger ones. The container is glass or ceramic of up to 1 l.

Why this matters to you. «Szabolcsi» guarantees apples from a single county and bottling on the spot; taking the pálinka out of the area in bulk is prohibited. It is a distillate of fermented fruit, not of cider as in calvados. The WHO reminds us that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.