The House of Angostura has been making rum for longer than anyone reading this has been alive, and they’ve been crafting aromatic bitters for even longer than that. Unfortunately, due to New York State’s arbitrary, inexplicable liquor laws, I cannot sell those bitters (which is particularly odd, since I can sell other bitters with the same alcohol by volume). This has led to two or three unpleasant interactions with the “what do you mean you can’t” customers — every retail worker’s worst nightmare. Fortunately, I’m a forgiving guy (even more so after a drink or two), and Angostura has just released something that I can sell, which also happens to be well worth selling. The launch party, where I first tried this new spirit, was yesterday night at the Clover Club in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. To mark one hundred and ninety years in the spirit-making game, The House of Angostura has released its own herbal liqueur, Amaro di Angostura.
While inspired by classic Italian amari like Averna, Fernet Branca, and Montenegro, Amaro di Angostura remains uniquely Trinidadian — and this is its distinguishing characteristic. There’s something decidedly tropical in the liqueur’s (top secret) blend of herbs and spices, which are married for three months in steel vats to allow the bittersweet botanicals to harmonize. The color of rich maple syrup, and only a bit less viscous, Amaro di Angostura offers the nose tones of birch bark, dried basil leaf, and clove. The palate is all about the nutmeg, with a bit of vanilla and a touch of something spicy (capsicum?) rounding it out. You could spend hours trying to guess what goes into this one, but instead I’d recommend just drinking it. It’s delightful stuff, and in the midst of this bitter winter it might bring you, at least for as long as a sip, to someplace warmer than this.
Visit The House of Angostura online at www.angostura.com
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