Figure 8 – Spiritus Rex Montana Nera
You know what they say: Better late than never! However, this time I am over half a year late. Nevertheless, I am presenting a rather special Margarita variation to you. Basically, it is a Fig Margarita, but the fruitiness comes from a fig eau de vie and some fig liqueur.
Matthias Sievert sent me this fig eau de vie at the beginning of the year. So, shame on me for not writing about it sooner! In my defense, I enjoyed it neat, but did not really know what to do with it besides that. That suddenly changed with the first hot summer days. Yet, let us take a quick look at the facts of the Montana Nera. Matthias distills the eau de vie from black mountain figs. He receives them full-ripe and therefore has to mash them pretty quickly. In the end, the fruity spirit is bottled at 42 % ABV.
Fresh green figs
Like always with spirits from Matthias, the Montana Nera eau de vie is excellently crafted. For me the dominant aroma are fresh figs. So much so, that when sipping the eau de vie, I really could picture myself biting into one. Nevertheless, you can also discover some green pepper and umami flavours. I even found notes of pipe tobacco in the taste.
Opulent Fig Margarita
I know that at this price you probably should not mix with the Montana Nera. Especially, using it in a Margarita might be frowned upon. However, when you use the best tequila you have and also add a premium fig liqueur (to bring down the cost) it might just be ok. To round everything off, I also included a few sprays of bergamot bitters.
0,75 cl Spiritus Rex Fig Eau de Vie
1,5 cl Esprit des Figues Fig Liqueur
4 Sprays The Seventh Sense Bergamot Bitters
3 cl Lime Juice
0,75 cl Agave Syrup
Garnish: Lime Twist;
Song: Elliott Smith – Figure 8;
The combination of lavish fig flavours with typical Margarita notes really won me over here! The Montana Nera adds a beautiful fresh fig flavour while the Esprit de Figuesprovides the colour. A little agave syrup balances the drink out while the bergamot bitters adds some citrusy accents. This might just be one of the best summer drinks I have had in a long time!
*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 and the bitters by Charles Hosie.
