Lamplight – Guglhof Dirndl Brand
In the already underappreciated category of eau de vies, there even more obscure bottlings exist. In this case, I am talking about a cornelian cherry eau de vie from renown Austrian producer Guglhof. Furthermore, this special spirit is a cuvee with some sloe eau de vie in the mix. Well, let us find out how it tastes and what to actually do with it!
I spent quite some time seeking this special eau de vie out. After a TV documentary on a South Tyrolean distiller who specialised in cornelian cherries, I knew that I have to try this rare spirit. Now, in this case I am presenting you the Guglhof Dirndl Brand Cuvée to you. In Austria cornelian cherries are called “Dirndl”. As mentioned above, Guglhof add some sloe eau de vie. After the mix of the two eau de vies, the spirit ages in demi-johns for a few years.
Wild fruit notes
Well, I guess the addition of sloe eau de vie already gives a hint into which direction the taste is heading. You will find a lot of marzipan and bitter almond flavours in the Guglhof Dirndl Brand. However, they are nicely accompanied by a bunch of wild fruit notes reminding me of rowan berries. Additionally, after the kernel notes have settled a bit, you can make out more delicate flavours of vanilla and flowers. In my opinion, the cornelian cherry and sloe cuvée is a great addition to any eau de vie collection.
A Brooklyn Lamp variation
Chances are high that you never heard of the Brooklyn Lamp cocktail. This is due to the fact, that the cocktail was created in a kind of secret bar in Frankfurt quite some time ago. Nevertheless, it serves as an excellent eau de vie cocktail or as a base for riffs on it. In this case, I replaced the pear eau de vie base with a combination of Reisetbauer Blue Gin Organic and Dirndl Brand. I kept the rest of the recipe, but omitted the grapefruit bitters, because I did not want to distract from the other flavours in the drink. Since I ran out of lemon juice, I also added a bit of lime, but I guess the taste is basically the same.
2,25 cl Guglhof Dirndl Brand Cuvée
1,5 cl Lemon Juice
1,5 cl Lime Juice
2,25 cl Giffard Rose Syrup
Garnish: Lime Twist;
Song: Bombay Bicycle Club – Lamplight;
The drink starts off with a delicate combination of gin, eau de vie and rose flavours. After a while the bitter almond notes show and add to the complexity of the drink. On top of that, you can even taste a hint of apple eau de vie from the Reisetbauer Gin. All in all, the drink is perfectly balanced with just enough rose flavours.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The eau de vie was provided by Guglhof.
