Top 10 Distilleries in Serbia
Rakija is Serbia's national spirit, its cultural touchstone, and its social currency. Made from fermented and distilled fruit — most commonly plums (šljiva), but also grapes (loza), quince (dunja), pears (viljamovka), apricots (kajsija), and figs (smokva) — rakija is produced in quantities that exceed any industrial figure, because the majority of Serbian production occurs in home distilleries, farm stills, and village cooperatives that operate largely outside official statistics. Serbia has the highest per-capita rakija production of any country in the world by some estimates, and it is plausibly argued that Serbian šljivovica — plum rakija — is one of the most widely consumed spirits on Earth, even though it barely registers in international spirits market reports.
The craft and commercial distilling scene sits alongside this enormous folk production tradition. Over the past two decades, a number of producers have sought to formalise Serbian rakija's quality credentials, pursuing Protected Geographical Indication status for regional styles and entering international spirits competitions where Serbian plum brandies have collected significant recognition. At the same time, a younger generation of distillers is producing gin, whisky, and fruit spirits for urban consumers. The distillery map offers a starting point for navigating this rich landscape.
1. Badel Takovo Distillery, Gornji Milanovac
Badel Takovo is one of Serbia's largest commercial spirits producers, based in the town of Gornji Milanovac in the Šumadija region — the heartland of Serbian plum cultivation. The distillery produces a range of rakija styles including the flagship Šumadijski čaj (Šumadija tea), a plum-based rakija sold hot with sugar that has become a defining winter drink across the former Yugoslavia. Takovo also produces premium aged šljivovica in oak barrels, which develops a golden colour and a rich, prune-and-vanilla character over several years of maturation. The facility combines modern stainless-steel fermentation tanks with traditional copper pot stills for the actual distillation step.
2. Mokra Gora Distillery, Zlatibor Region
In the mountain village of Mokra Gora in the Zlatibor region of western Serbia — made famous by filmmaker Emir Kusturica as the site of his Drvengrad (Küstendorf) ethno-village — a traditional distillery operates using methods unchanged over many generations. The mountain climate of Zlatibor, with cold winters and short, intense summers, produces plums and other soft fruits with concentrated flavour, and the distillery processes fruit from local farms to produce estate-style šljivovica, dunja rakija, and kruška (pear) rakija. The Mokra Gora distillery is a regular destination for tourists exploring the narrow-gauge Šargan Eight railway and Kusturica's village, providing a direct experience of how rakija fits into Serbian rural culture.
3. Rubin Winery and Distillery, Kruševac
Rubin, based in Kruševac in the Morava valley of central Serbia, is primarily a large wine producer but also operates a significant brandy and rakija distillery. The company produces loza — grape rakija distilled from the pomace of Serbian varieties including Prokupac and Plovdina — as well as grape brandy aged in oak. Rubin's loza has a characteristically dry, almost austere style that contrasts with the sweeter plum rakijas of Šumadija. The winery also produces a range of vinjak — a Serbian grape brandy aged in oak following Cognac-inspired methods, which was the prestige spirit of the socialist Yugoslav period and retains nostalgic significance for older generations across the Balkans.
4. Prokupac Distillery, Toplica Valley
In the Toplica valley of southern Serbia, near Prokuplje, a number of small producers specialise in grape rakija made from the Prokupac variety — a robust red grape indigenous to Serbia and one of the country's oldest cultivated varieties. The Prokupac Distillery is representative of a cluster of producers in this region who have positioned Prokupac loza as a distinctive local product with appellation potential. The grape's high anthocyanin content and powerful fruit character translate into a rakija with more colour and body than most loza expressions, and the Toplica valley's warm Morava-influenced climate concentrates sugars effectively. The region has been producing grape rakija continuously since the medieval Serbian kingdoms.
5. Zvečevo Distillery, Požega
Zvečevo is a long-established Croatian brand with roots in the town of Požega in western Slavonia, but has historical connections to Serbian distilling through the shared Yugoslav spirits market. Within Serbia, the Zvečevo name is associated with a style of herb and honey-infused rakija that was popular during the Yugoslav period. More relevant to the contemporary Serbian distilling scene is the town of Požarevac in eastern Serbia, where several small distilleries produce aged šljivovica from the Morava river valley plum orchards — an area whose continental climate and well-drained soils produce fruit of particular quality. These small Požarevac producers, while not yet internationally known, represent the serious end of artisanal Serbian plum brandy.
6. Zlatni Hit Distillery, Šumadija
Šumadija — the forested central region of Serbia — is to šljivovica what Cognac is to brandy. Zlatni Hit (Golden Hit) is one of several Šumadija producers that have invested in premium production standards, using estate-grown Požegača plums (the traditional šljivovica variety, smaller and more aromatic than commercial plum varieties) fermented for extended periods before distillation in copper pot stills. The distillery ages its premium expressions in locally cooperaged Serbian oak, which imparts a distinctive set of tannins and aromatic compounds different from French or American oak. Extended aging — twelve years and beyond for the top expressions — produces šljivovica of remarkable complexity.
7. Podrinarac Distillery, Mačva Region
The Mačva region in western Serbia, between the Drina and Sava rivers, is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the country, and its plum orchards supply raw material to distilleries across the region. Podrinarac is a medium-sized producer based near Šabac that has built a reputation for consistently high-quality šljivovica at accessible prices. The distillery is notable for its commitment to using only whole, undamaged fruit — even minor fruit damage can introduce off-flavours during fermentation — and for its extended fermentation period, which it credits with the clean, fruity character of the finished spirit. Podrinarac exports to the Serbian diaspora markets in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
8. Stara Sokolova Rakija, Sokobanja
In the spa town of Sokobanja in eastern Serbia, at the foot of the Rtanj mountain, a family distillery has been producing traditional rakija from local fruit for four generations. The Rtanj massif — a conical mountain with a distinctive pyramidal peak — has an unusual microclimate, and the plums, quinces, and wild elderberries that grow on its slopes develop particular aromatic intensity. The Stara Sokolova (Old Sokol) range includes both young and aged expressions across several fruit types, with the aged quince rakija being the most distinctive: dunja matures more slowly than plum, developing a rich, marmalade-like complexity over many years in oak. The distillery has a small visitor facility.
9. Radomir Jovović Craft Distillery, Zlatibor
Among the newer generation of Serbian craft distillers, Radomir Jovović has built a reputation for producing botanically complex rakija and gin from the wild flora of the Zlatibor mountain region. The distillery's herb rakija — travarka — uses up to twenty different wild-gathered mountain herbs including gentian root, St. John's wort, and juniper berries from the sub-alpine grasslands of Zlatibor. The production is small and entirely manual, with herbs foraged seasonally and macerated in a high-quality neutral spirit base before redistillation in a custom copper pot still. The result is a bitter, complex aperitif-style spirit that has found a following among Belgradians with sophisticated spirit sensibilities.
10. Aleksandrović Winery and Distillery, Šumadija
Aleksandrović is one of Serbia's leading wine estates, based near Topola in Šumadija, and its distillery produces premium loza and grape brandy as a complement to its award-winning wine program. The estate's vineyard is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and the Serbian variety Tamjanika, and the loza is distilled from the pomace of these varieties — particularly the Tamjanika, which is a highly aromatic muscat-family grape that lends distinctive floral notes to the spirit. The brandy is aged in Slavonian oak barrels acquired from a cooperage in eastern Croatia, giving it the characteristic vanilla and spice notes of that oak alongside the fruity base spirit. Aleksandrović represents the premium end of Serbian grape distillation.