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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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April 5, 2015 |
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Malternatives on Sunday,
today funny flower eaux-de-vie |
The Alsatians do distil just anything. Granted, poire williams, mirabelle, marc de gewürztraminer or raspberries are having the upper hand, but smaller berries or even flowers are being distilled as well, with sometimes infinitesimal yields. For example, I made some pure mullein flowers myself a few years ago, and managed to produce just 3.5 litres after a whole summer spent harvesting flowers almost every morning, before the bees would arrive and plunder all the nectar, so anything fermentescible. A hard graft but it was worth it, the eau-de-vie was stellar (ach, I’m sounding like a Scottish distiller now, am I not.) Anyway, let’s try a few unlikely flower eaux-de-vies today… For the cause! What’s more, flowers can be more complex – hence closer to malt whisky – than big in-your-face fruits. |
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Fleur de Molène/Bouillon Blanc (40%,G. Miclo, Alsace, +/-2013)  So that’s mullein flowers, but the ‘low wines’ were made by letting flowers macerate in neutral eau-de-vie (apples), it’s not ‘full mullein’ (which is so costly to make that one bottle would cost more than twelve magnums of Macallan M). Colour: white. Nose: noses really like… mullein flowers. Hard to describe, but it’s a bit between mead, pears and barley sugar, plus the flowery side, of course. Perhaps a hint of old roses, but it’s no oriental extravaganza. Mouth: very flowery. We’re somewhere between rosewater and orange blossom water, and yeah, I guess you could say it’s got an oriental side. Something slightly sugary as well, and hints of cologne, but all flower eaux-de-vie have got that, in my experience. The body’s a little weak. Finish: short, but very flowery and perfumy. Comments: nice if you want to discover mullein eau-de-vie, but we’re far from the true artisan ones that are made by ‘crazy’ Alsatian distillers. SGP:730 - 70 points. |
Another fleur de molène, made in the same way… |
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Fleur de Bouillon Blanc (43%, René de Miscault, Alsace, +/-2013)  Bouillon blanc just is another name for molène, so mullein. In Alsatian we actually say Wollbluama, so Wollblume in German. Ooh that’s complicated… I do sometimes use the ‘mullein flowers’ descriptor when tasting whisky, especially for some sweet easy ones. Colour: white. Nose: this is completely different, there are whiffs of tinned fish, celeriac, sardines and all that, and very little flowers. I don’t find fruits either. Bizarre, who said bizarre?… But I feel I have to add that when you distil some very aromatic stuff, that can happen that things get kind of saturated, which may just kill the fruit’s smells and create something new, usually fairly rotten. Well, that happened to me before. Not unusual with, for example, raspberries, especially wild ones. Mouth: better, unsurprisingly (couldn’t have been worse) but beyond the fine notes of mullein (and mead, roses, orange blossom and all that) something fishy and weirdly earthy/rooty remains. Really reminds me of celeriac spirit. Finish: very long, very rooty. So much for flowers. Comments: it’s as if the distiller was making mullein for the first time in his life. Weird salty fish notes. SGP:651 - 25 points. |
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Ache Odorante (43%, René de Miscault, Alsace, +/-2013) Another maceration/distillation of flowers, this time ache odorante aka wild celery flowers. Some trustworthy website advertise ache odorante as ‘helps unwind all those who have important responsibilities’. That exactly us, isn’t it. Colour: white. Nose: well, this is celery indeed, with notes that are often found in young peaters, for example. It’s pristine spirit this time, extremely clear and loud, with a lemony side that goes well with the whole. We’re a bit in chartreuse territories. Mouth: a little liqueury, perhaps, and I’m not sure they haven’t added sugar, but other than that, it’s lovely clear herbal spirit, with hints of parsley. Finish: long, and that may be the problem. A little invading, in fact. Comments: I’m sure they have added sugar, and that’s a no-no. But other than that, it’s one funny spirit. SGP:670 - 70 points. |
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Aspérule (43%, René de Miscault, Alsace, +/-2013) Aspérule is woodruff in English, and Waldmeister in Alsatian/German. Or also ‘reine des bois’ in French. It’s a very precious little flower that grows in deep forests, and I remember old Alsatians used to smoke aspérule when they wanted to quit smoking, which never quite worked as far as I can tell. Or maybe does it have psychotropic proprieties? Let’s see… Colour: white. Nose: gasp, I’m finding these sardines again, but they’re much more discreet than in the bouillon blanc. There’s a side that reminds me of oyster plant (mertensia maritima), fun stuff, that. Other than that, it’s a little indefinite, not fruity, not flowery, not earthy… Well, it’s got touches of asparagus, perhaps. Mouth: nicer, much nicer. Much, much nicer. Mint, myrtle, grapefruits, oysters indeed, a bit of fennel, a bit of dill… What a pity that, apparently, they’ve added sugar again. Sugar kills spirits, and it kills humans, geddit? Finish: quite long and pretty complex. I should spend more time on some better aspérule, made by some reputed Alsatian distillers such as Windholtz or Metté. Comments: a very interesting plant and an interesting spirit. More later (like, in three years’ time). SGP:670 - 75 points. |
Good, I think we’re done with flower spirits. Let’s try a last very weird eau-de-vie-like spirit, and call this a tasting session. |
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Mangue (40%, Ava Tahiti, eau-de-vie, +/-2010) Good, that’s always been a dream of mine, distilling mangos. But I have to confess that I’ve never tried any mango eau-de-vie, and this is a great opportunity to do so. Will it taste like Bowmore Bicentenary? Ava Tahiti, on the French island of Tahiti, used to belong to the Alsatian Miclo family, but it seems that they sold that distillery a while back. So, this is one of the very last bottles, not sure the new owners still distil mangos. Let’s only hope no one ever added any sugar… Colour: white. Nose: well well well, this does not smell of mangos at all. How weird! Asparagus, yes. Nail polish remover, yes. Paint thinner, yes. Gym socks, yes. Mangos, no. In a way, it’s fun spirit, but I need my m.a.n.g.o.s. Bye-bye dreams of 1960s Bowmore… sob… Mouth: ah, now we’re talking! There are ‘ideas’ of mangos indeed, but this acetic, gym-socks like side remains there. It’s not totally unpleasant (no I’m no fetishist), it’s just weird. A feeling of salted grapefruits mixed with… hey, mullein flower spirit? In truth, we’re very far from any clear mangoness, which goes to show that ‘it’s not always by distilling xyz that you get concentrated xyz’. A true lesson. Finish: long but varnishy and acetic. Some sugar and artificial mint in the aftertaste, boooo… Comments: whoof! My dreams have just been shattered. This weird baby’s hard to score… why not 37? I think I’ve never given a 37… SGP:651 - 35 points. |
We’ll have many more weird eaux-de-vie in the foreseeable future, especially these small berries that I sometimes find in malt whisky. Happy Easter! |
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