Raki is Albania’s national drink, and the culture around it is probably the most socially load-bearing of any country covered here — the welcome drink, the toast, the gift, embodying the saying “nga dora në zemraë”: from the hand to the heart.

Two points of definition matter. Unlike Turkish rakı, which is anise-flavoured, Albanian raki is made purely from fruit, without sugar, spice or any botanical infusion — a traditional raki contains exactly two things: the fruit, and the alcohol its own sugars became. Strengths run high, commonly 40–65%, and the home-distillation tradition feels most unbroken in the north.

Rakia Today

Raki rrushi, grape raki, is the everyday default across most of the country, often made from pomace at essentially zero added cost the same way grappa is. Skrapar is the benchmark regional style — clean and dry at 42–46%, and the version Albanians give as a serious gift — while Berat, Përmet and Korçë each have their own recognised grape-raki character.

Përmet, in the Vjosa valley, is mulberry country: raki mani, made from wild black mulberries along the riverbanks, has a deep, almost jammy quality and is widely considered the smoothest of the main styles. Raki kumbullë, plum, runs sweeter and softer and is especially popular in Korçë and Pogradec in the east and across the north.

Native Spirits

Grape-Based

• Raki Rrushi (Grape) [A–B] — The everyday default raki, made from grapes — sometimes from pomace like grappa, sometimes from whole grapes. Skrapar is the benchmark regional style, clean and dry at 42–46% and the version Albanians give as a serious gift; Berat, Përmet and Korçë each have their own recognised character.

Fruit-Based

• Raki Mani (Mulberry) [B] — Mulberry raki, Përmet’s own style — made from wild black mulberries along the Vjosa valley riverbanks, with a deep, almost jammy quality. Widely considered the smoothest of the main raki styles.
• Raki Kumbullë (Plum) [B–C] — Plum raki — sweeter and softer than the grape versions, particularly popular in Korçë and Pogradec in the east and across northern Albania.

Also Found (Not Individually Paged)

• Raki me mjaltë (honey) [C] — Raki softened and sweetened with mountain honey — warm and mellow, common in older households, and an exception to the single-fruit purist rule above.
• Raki qershie, arre, ftua, fiku, kajsie (cherry, walnut, quince, fig, apricot) [C–D] — Family and regional traditions, mostly homemade.

Not rakia: Skënderbeu konjak, a serious cognac-style wine-distillate brandy from the Kantina Skënderbeu distillery — a distinct industrial tradition, not a raki. Full profile →

Specialty Spirits

Albania’s spirit identity is raki, and the liqueur category barely exists commercially — worth stating plainly rather than padding. What it does have is a serious cognac-style brandy house.

Brandy

• Konjak Skënderbeu [A–B] — A serious cognac-style brandy from the Kantina Skënderbeu distillery in Durrës — a wine distillate aged in oak, and Albania’s flagship non-raki spirit, reaching diaspora markets.

Also Found (Not Individually Paged)

• Raki me mjaltë (honey raki) [C] — The nearest thing Albania has to a liqueur tradition — see the rakia page — and notably at odds with the single-fruit purism that otherwise defines Albanian raki.
• Walnut and juniper raki [C–D] — Infused variants, household scale.

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