May 24, 2015

Malternatives, two nice spirits from Paris

Yesterday I’ve been wandering through the little streets around Place de la République in Paris, and first found a small Polish shop that had some virtually unknown spirits (to me). And then I went to visit the lovely new Distillerie de Paris near Gare de l’Est, where I tried quite a few new spirits (especially their great gins) as well as some of their baby whisky. Excuse me, their malt distillate. So let’s simply taste one spirit from each place today, which spirits won’t have anything to do with each other. Agreed, how unlikely but that's often how you come across good - or bad - surprises.

Rhum ‘Petite Marie’ (51%, OB, Distillerie de Paris, 2015)

This is concentrated cane juice from Marie Galante (Guadeloupe islands) distilled in Paris in a very state of the art Holstein still – that’s actually much more than a regular Holstein. It’s been aged for a few weeks in small French oak casks. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: pure and fresh at first nosing, with very lovely notes of citrons and white asparagus, a moderately smoky grassiness, some waxed paper and fabric, and then pure sugar cane juice blended with just a little mezcal. Perhaps. It’s the freshness that’s impressive here, we’re far from the heavies and far from the sweetened ones. Kind of anti-molassy. Mouth: starts with a lot of liquorice and lemon, with a hot and burning side - but that’s normal – before touches of smoked ham and, again, asparagus become bigger and bigger. A wee hint of lavender, perhaps. Finish: very long, with a little juniper on top of the sugar cane and asparagus. Comments: a different one, very zesty, and beyond a rather impressive complexity, one can feel that purity was the aim. A few oddish notes (ham) should disappear after a little more ageing. SGP:551 - around 80 points.

Sliwowica Podbeskidzka (50%, OB, Poland, Toorank Distilleries, +/-2015)

As I understand it this is a kind of slivovitz, so damson plum spirit, which I found in a little Polish shop in Paris, called La Petite Pologne (Little Poland). Colour: white wine. Nose: plums indeed. Wheelbarrows of fresh and ripe purple plums plus a touch of vanilla and cake. No complex spirit but it’s clean and if you enjoy damson plums, this will work a treat. Mouth: in my experience – and because I’ve been distilling plums myself for decades – plum spirit can get dirty and/or a little burnt, which isn’t the case at all here. Balance is achieved, the plums are singing loud, together with overripe apples and a wee feeling of rotting oranges. Nothing dirty, though. Sadly, there’s also a little too much sweetness coming through after twenty seconds, as if sugar had been added. That coats your tongue a bit, but we’re way below the limits of unbearability. Ahem. Good mouth feel, and the 50% vol. do not feel much. Finish: quite long, fresh and zesty. Lemony aftertaste, with perhaps something a little burnt in the end of the end. Comments: quality drink, but we knew the Poles were very good at making plum spirit. SGP:740 - around 78 points.