Let's get fruity episode 8 - other Drupe (stone fruit)
Updated: Aug 17
What a summer - I can't believe we're already at the penultimate episode of this madness!
Within the drupe [stone fruit] category we've already ticked off Plum and Apricot, today we wrap up my remaining samples and bottles from the drupe category with distillates made from Peach, Cherry, and Mango.
An all-star cast with two bottlings from Capovilla (peach & sour cherry) and our final tiny treat from today's profiled distiller Johannes Kolonko. Plus the final pair of Hungarian Palinka and an unusual mango Eau de Vie from Greensand Ridge (made from imperfect fruit otherwise headed for landfill!)
If you'd like a little background on this brief excursion away from rum reviewing .. Here's my introduction to this crazy summer series.
If you think fruit distilling is a niche, labour-intensive activity, Johannes Kolonko takes things to another level.
Based in the rolling green fruit belt of southwest Germany, Johannes uses his formal training in viticulture and a passion for distilling, to produce probably the most micro-artisan range of Eau de Vie commercially available on the planet.
Working from a barn that he converted into a distillery, Johannes spends his days (and nights) making experimental, ultra-niche batches of fruit distillates from the finest fruit, in the most perfect condition he can find.
Often this means waiting for fully ripe fruit to naturally fall from the trees, before gathering it from the ground. Johannes insists on being involved in every step of the process, from harvesting through fermentation to distillation and bottling, to ensure he does everything possible in his search for purity and perfection.
If you remember my 8 steps to the perfect fruit distillate - we're talking about someone ticking every box, and some!
tiny batch, hand-gathered, organic, local fruit in absolutely perfect condition
manually cleaned and prepared
always natural wild fermentation (using the yeast on the fruit)
batch distillation in a small copper alembic still
resting in glass balloons before reducing with the purest spring water
numbered bottlings of each batch
And the result ... the most incredible intensity of perfume and flavour you can imagine. The quintessence of fruit is captured in Kolonko's iconic and beautiful 200ml bottles.
Small batch to the extreme - starting with generally less than 500kg of fruit*, Johannes produces under 20 litres of a single batch of Eau de Vie. His stunning 200ml bottles are about as rare and valuable as you get.
*down to as little as 150kg of fruit producing just 5 litres of distillate, in the case of his wild foraged medlar. And 200kg of Cornelian cherries resulting in under 8 litres of bottled distillate.
And on to the tasting....
15ml of each, left (covered) to open up for 20 mins. All nosed first, then tasted, in the same random order as the lead photo.
The room lit up after pouring these - powerful and beautiful aromas.
Assisted today by an awesome playlist of one-off collaborations. Playing as I type this is one of my favourites; U2 & BB King - When Love Comes To Town! What's your favourite musical collab?
A rare little gem from today's profiled distiller. Johannes made just 87 little bottles of this elixir - less than 18 liters!
Produced from peaches grown in northern Italy that were allowed to ripen until each fruit, individually selected, is at its softest and ripest - the perfect condition to press, ferment, and distill.
Our last visit of the series to Kolonko. What a treat it has been to taste his beautiful Eau de Vie.
Nose: Wow! A huge, complex, and delicious nose. Yet again I'm knocked over by the power of a 44% abv distillate. It starts with warm bright aromas that jump out and hug you. Then we're transported to late summer in an orchard surrounded by ripe stone fruit ... apricots, peaches, nectarines - so juicy and vibrant. I can't wait to taste this.
Mouth: Sweet. Bright. Candied. Delicious. A deconstructed peach, showing you parts that you never expected. Fresh sweet flesh, spiciness that I didn't expect but works perfectly. Just a hint of bitterness. All coming and going in waves. Amazing natural sweetness. Floral. Delicate. Complex. Super rich. Pretty incredible. [90pts]
Our second peach distillate comes from the maestro, Gianni Capovilla, Profiled Distiller in Round 3.
Another limited release, and also most likely made from North Italian peaches, this 2008 release ran to 254 individually numbered bottles,
Nose: Yum, yum. Another delicious nose. Wildly different from the other peach. This is all high notes - less of the sweet warmth of the Kolonko, more fresh, bright, slightly sharp flavours. Summer peach and strawberry. Super ripe and juicy. Sweet fruit with a natural sourness and acidity - a wonderfully complex nose. Intense perfume of concentrated summer berries, nectarines, and (of course) ripe peaches.
Mouth: Mouth-filling fresh vibrant fruit. Special stuff. The intensity of the nose is, amazingly, surpassed on the palate. Starts with a broad smash of fruit, sweet tasty summer fruit. Mid-palate focuses on tight and specific peach & strawberry flavours. Then a pinch of salt. And finally, a long slightly bitter, sweet & sour finish that is absolutely what I wanted and leaves me craving more. Rich, intense, absolutely stunning [91pts]
What a treat, a second visit to Capovilla. Another limited edition, vintaged release, this time made from sour cherries. Bottled at a powerful 51%.
Nose: Sour cherries!! Yes, I know that's what it says on the bottle so I shouldn't be surprised. But I can't emphasize enough how well, and how powerfully, this captures and concentrates the aroma of the single ingredient. Wow, just wow. Sour cherry flavours are accompanied by notes of chocolate & almond - it's bold, punchy, and super sour. Another absolute cracker.
Mouth: Sweet bright cherries. The sourness kicks in mid-way through. It almost gets too tart but comes back from the edge and more rounded fruit joins the party.
A complete, boozy triumph that runs to a spectacular long black cherry finish with just a hint of spearmint & blackcurrant. Very rich. Very tasty. A little goes a long way. It's not super complex but that's fine - it perfectly, and boldly captures the essence of its one ingredient. I can't imagine a sour cherry distillate being much better than this. Massive! [90+pts]
Final visit of the series to Hungary's Sziecsek distillery for the second of today's three cherry distillates. So far my pick of their range was the plum. Could this topple plum for their top spot...
Nose: Pleasantly and impressively intense. Although not quite as delicious or as clean a flavour as the first three. This presents a range of dark stone fruit, chocolate, a splash of marzipan, and an unfortunate edge of butyric acid.
Mouth: Moreish sour fruit. Some nice cherry notes. Well-integrated alcohol. A dry cherry liqueur. Pretty decent. Vegetal bitterness. Gets extra dry and spicy on the finish which works and leaves you wanting more. The nose lets things down but otherwise, it's not a bad drop. [82+pts]
Third and final cherry distillate (this is labeled as wild cherry). Fourth and final visit to Bestillo. As with Sziecsek, this has plum to beat for the distilleries' top spot.
Nose: A winner! Back to the fresh clean fruit profiles. Not quite the power or intensity of the big boys but a cracking clean cherry and nougat profile. Very impressive - fingers crossed for the palate.
Mouth: It's very good. The fruit is naturally sweet and bright. Cherries and berries. Chalky texture. Clean fruit. Easily the best Bestillo of the series - and the best Pálinka. It could be thicker and more powerful but it's tasty and a lovely representation of the cherry. Great flavour & balance, and an absolute bargain [85pts]
Last up tonight is an exciting and very unusual offering from Greensand Ridge (round 2's profiled distiller). Only available in 50ml samples, these little treats were made from imported mangos that are imperfect and otherwise headed for landfill. Master distiller Will Edge works closely with supermarket packhouses to recover these. They are crushed, fermented, and distilled to produce this rare and unusual clear spirit - how awesome is that!
Nose: Earthy and intense with a touch of salinity. Super dry! At first, I struggled to pick out the mango, but now and then bright little mango notes crept up on me. A warm grain and fruit profile - deep & earthy. Acrid with notes of tobacco, clove, and mustard.
Mouth: Nutty. A long tropical finish. Blackcurrant. Hints of bitterness. Apricot. Cherry stone. A sweet & sour acrid taste, like turnip or mustard. Dry mango right at the finish. Interesting. It's clearly well made, and super interesting, just not wowing me [83pts]
Conclusion: What a round. I didn't have particularly high expectations - even with the big names in the lineup. How wrong could I be! The quintessence of fruit, bottled and there for us to enjoy.
The best Pálinka of the series - Bestillo wild cherry, a tasty bargain!
It was another tough call to separate the medalists. Three very special fruit distillates. The Kolonko peach has an intense, floral, delicate profile. A 90pointer without doubt. The need for a touch more acidity or bitterness to balance the richness was all that separated it from the winners.
In joint first place, are two very different spirits from one exceptional distiller:
The powerful, bold, intense singular experience of Capovilla sour cherry.
And the delicate, complex, complete Capovilla peach.
Coming soon ... The final round of my summer unaged Eau de Vie series, simply titled "Other Fruit". This is the sweep up of fruit that didn't fit into the previous 8 categories. I will be tasting and reviewing distillates made from Fig, Malay apple (Pomme Malaka), Banana, Star Fruit (Carambola), Tangerine, and Custard Apple!
Plus a final distiller profile of Tunisia's Boukha Bokobsa distillery.
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