The Pearl – Scheibel Williams
On with my little series on eau de vie cocktails. This time I again was inspired by the Flavor Bible to come up with this Old-Fashioned variation. Since pears go well with cinnamon and balsamic vinegar, I thought I just throw those three things together. Apart from that we also take a look at the Williams eau de vie from Scheibel.
Scheibel use ripe Williams pears from the Ortenau and France in their Premium Williams. Before mashing, the pits are removed from the fruits. Similar to all their “Premium” spirits, Scheibel distill the macerate on their “Neue Zeit” stills over 22k gold plates. In the end, they bottle the eau de vie with an ABV of 40 %.
Intensive mashed pears
Scheibel Williams starts with typical Williams pear notes. The eau de vie also reminded me a bit of pear juice. Additionally, you can find a certain spiciness in the taste with notes of cloves and even a hint of vanilla. Basically, the Scheibel Williams is a good pear spirit with a great value-for-money.
Basically, a Williams Old-Fashioned
When browsing through my Flavor Bible, I discovered the flavour combination of pears, cinnamon and balsamic vinegar. This just sounded too good not to try it! So, I just used the Scheibel Williams as a base and added some Fee Brothers Barrel Aged Bitters for the cinnamon. Obviously, you have to be careful with the vinegar and also use the best quality you can get / afford. In the end, I threw in some maple syrup as the sweetner, too.
3 Dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
1 Dash Casa Renaldi Aceto Balsamico
0,75 cl Maple Syrup Grade C
Garnish: Lemon Twist;
Song: Absynthe Minded – The Pearl;
The cocktail clearly is dominated by the Williams eau de vie. However, the cinnamon and the maple syrup quickly also come to the front of the taste. However, the balsamic vinegar lingers on the back and just adds subtle hints of acidity. All in all, “the Pearl” is quite complex with every sip leaning towards a different direction.
VW highball variation
On top of that, I also mixed a highball using the classic combination of vermouth and Williams pear eau de vie. However, instead of just stirring those two ingredients together, I added a splash of Italian lemonade. This took the drink in a more refreshing direction. Also I went for a semi-dry vermouth instead of a bone-dry one.
2,25 cl Gölles Alfred Semi-Dry Vermouth
Built – chilled Highball glass over ice cubes – top off with lemonade;
Garnish: Lemon Twist;
Song: Little Comets – My Boy William;
*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 Scheibel.
