Peter Schaf

22% abv on the label.

Maiwein uses wine and is much less commercially available. At 20% abv. and no mention of wine, it is certainly more similar to Waldmeisterlikör. Based on my experiences with many provincial French distilleries, that the inspiration to make it came from an entry in a creative contest that they hosted, (and Simon's statement above), I believe there is a very good chance that they were not even aware of Waldmeisterlikör. It would be most interesting to do a comparative tasting.

Almost surely the first French brand
But this is not even close to the first commercial woodruff liqueur produced. Waldmeisterlikör (German for Woodruff liqueur) has been made for decades in Germany and there are, between large and small producers, many brands. Woodruff is most commonly used to make a delicious homemade syrup there.