From the atlas
Lignell & Piispanen
A Finnish alcohol company based in Kuopio, with Loimu glöggs built from berry ingredients, wine and Christmas spices.
At A Glance
| Field | Detail |
| Producer | Lignell & Piispanen |
| Type | Family owned Finnish alcohol company |
| Family line | Sixth generation |
| Main line | Loimu glöggs |
| Place | Kuopio, Finland |
The Producer
Lignell & Piispanen is a family owned Finnish alcohol company whose present distilling process is transparent and sustainable. The Loimu line connects the business to glögg, combining wine, berries and traditional Christmas spices across several formats.
The company is part of a family business now in its sixth generation. Its range includes vintage glögg and a fortified white wine glögg, with berry ingredients changing between bottlings.
Place
Kuopio is the Finnish city at the centre of the family business. Gustav Ranin began the company by acquiring the Crown Distillery there, a distillery founded in 1783.
The place gives the producer an urban Finnish origin rather than a vineyard address. Its labels are organised around glögg styles, berries, wine and spices.
Story
Gustav Ranin started the family business by purchasing the Crown Distillery in 1852. Oy Gust. Ranin later became the parent company of the Lignell & Piispanen alcohol business. In 1932, the Lignell & Piispanen trademark and products were merged into Oy Gust. Ranin.
Loimu remains connected to the family company's founding through its Christmas glögg tradition, which combines different flavours in each vintage and style.
Vineyards And Cellar
The production line is built around gathered raw materials rather than vineyard parcels. Berries and plants used for Gustav Spirits are handpicked in northern forests and marshlands.
The white glögg draws aroma from handpicked Arctic brambles from Northern Ostrobothnia and spruce tips collected nearby. It is extracted by hand using traditional methods. The present distilling process is described through transparency and sustainability.
Wines
The Loimu range is organised around vintage glögg and a separate white wine style. Loimu Årgångsglögg 2024 uses red wine, traditional spices, Arctic bramble, chokeberry and ripe plum. The 2025 vintage changes the fruit combination to lingonberries, blueberries and rowan berries.
Loimu Vitvinsglögg shifts to white wine with Arctic bramble, spruce tip and traditional Christmas spices. It is a fortified wine glögg rather than a red wine vintage bottling.
In The Glass
Loimu 2024 is very sweet and spicy, with dark cherry, cardamom, cinnamon, plum, ginger and bitter orange. The red wine base carries the fruit and spice through a full, warming style.
Loimu 2025 is fresh and multilayered, with lingonberry, blueberry and aromatic rowan berry at the centre. The white glögg has a berry like, spicy aroma and a berry led, mellow taste marked by Christmas spices.
A Bottle To Understand It
Loimu Årgångsglögg 2024 is the first bottle to open. It is the red wine vintage bottling made with Arctic bramble, chokeberry, ripe plum and traditional spices. It can be heated to 60°C or used in cocktails.
This bottle keeps the red wine format in focus before the 2025 vintage changes the fruit selection and the white glögg changes the wine base.
Anecdote
In the 1870s, pharmacists Hugo Lignell and A. E. Piispanen bought a pharmacy. Their Arctic bramble liqueur entered shops in 1882. A. J. Kotilainen then developed the liqueur further, and it received an award in Saint Petersburg in 1895. Five years later, the liqueur was honoured at the Paris World's Fair. Prohibition interrupted production, which resumed in 1933.
Final Word
Lignell & Piispanen joins Finnish berry ingredients with red wine, white wine and traditional Christmas spices. The Loimu range changes its fruit register while keeping glögg at the centre.
Sources
1. https://lignellpiispanen.com/en/about-us/ 2. https://lignellpiispanen.com/en/loimu/ 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignell%26Piispanen 4. https://pohjois-savonmuisti.fi/historia/elinkeinot/lignell-piispanen-ja-a-j-kotilainen/ 5. https://yle.fi/a/3-6251536 6. https://lignellpiispanen.com/en/product/loimu2024/ 7. https://lignellpiispanen.com/en/product/loimu-fortified-white-wine-glogg/