All Your Favorite Bands – SR Gentiana

We will take a short break from Tropical Month to look at another stunning eau de vie from Spiritus Rex. This Cuvée of a rare apple and gentian root is really powerful stuff! Apart from that, I collaborated with my friend Torben from Trinklaune to create a cocktail which on one hand profits from the eau de vie, but on the other one tames its taste a bit.

Matthias Sievert has done it again and created a unique eau de vie which combines two traditional spirits in one bottle. However, first things first. Christoph Keller introduced Matthias to a guy who has the right to harvest gentian. Since, alpine gentian is strictly protected, not just anyone can harvest it. When Matthias took delivery of the gentian roots he fermented one part of it on its own, but he mixed the other part with Red Martini apples, a very rare variety. After a slow and cold fermentation he distilled the Cuvée and bottled it with 42 % ABV.

Earthy gentian and apples

In the bouquet the gentian clearly dominates. There are a lot of earthy notes and even some flavours reminding me of chilis. In the taste, a clear cut apple note accompanies the gentian’s earthiness. Apart from that., you can find a distinct grassiness along some floral notes. All in all, the Martini Gentiana is quite powerful in taste, but at the same time very interesting.

Somehow a Martini variation

As it happens, my friend Torben at Trinklaune also received the same care-package from Matthias as I did. Naturally, we exchanged tasting notes and talked about what to do with the eau de vies. For the Martini Gentiana we came up with a sort of Martini variation which would complement the gentian eau de vies earthy notes. However, at the same time we balanced the flavours with some triple sec. Apart from that, Torben and I both like the bands Dawes, so we decided to name the drink after one song of theirs.

All Your Favorite Bands:
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4 cl Ki No Bi Gin
2 cl Spiritus Rex Martini Gentiana Eau de Vie
2,5 cl Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
1 cl Triple Sec
Stir – strain – chilled Cocktail glass;
Garnish: Lemon Twist;
Song: Dawes – All Your Favorite Bands;

With the first sip of the “All You Favorite Bands” I thought that the Martini Gentiana would dominate the whole drink. However, after a short while the earthiness is complimented by resinous notes from the gin and herbal ones from the vermouth. In the end, a slight hint of orange hits your palate with some sweetness. This way, the Martini-like drink is complex without hiding the character of the gentian eau de vie.

*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 Spiritus Rex.

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