Barbayanni Ouzo

Mine is 46% abv. Very licorice heavy. Needs water, for me 1:3, its too sharp otherwise, which detracts from the flavor. Very salty.

Rating 14/23 This is my first ouzo. I haven't had arak, raki, or any other heavily anise spirit before either. What I do know is that this is fairly high proof for an ouzo and that I should expect a mild amount of added sweetness. Expect this to bee a really novice tasting. N: Anise. There's a clearness to the nose like some hearts were the main distillate used. It's more on the black licorice side than the anise side, actually. That's really all I've got. P: Black licorice. There are various flavors of black licorice, but it's all black licorice. And it numbs quickly. There's a faint grainy element here, which is surprising because my assumption was that this was distilled from grapes rather than grain. It's very quickly numbing, but also has a fair amount of sweetness to it. It isn't like drinking candy, but it does remind me a lot of actual black licorice. Adding water in a 1:2::water:ouzo ratio brings out some louche. That's fun, though it's a lot like lightly frosted glass rather than that milky louche I'd expected. Now the flavor is spicier and richer. The complexity is improved too actually. I still get the anise and numbing character, but there's more going on now. Going to a 2:1 ratio, the appearance is the same. I might have misremembered how intense a louche gets. Now, it's a much milder experience. Actually, it tastes a little like watered down mild now. Imagine the 1:2 experience watered down and you'e got this. I'd stick to 1:2. F: Quite numbing. A little bit of minerals. Lingering black licorice, including the sweetness. With water added, I get more of the spices here. Not super exciting, but it's good to know that the flavor does last for a long time. - Conclusion - I don't know what to make of this. If I want a strongly anise spirit, this seems good. If I don't, then I certainly don't want anything like this. If I were offered this, I would take it with some water (or possibly ice). That really ups the profile here and makes it actually kind of enjoyable to drink. It never becomes particularly great, but it does become sippable. Still, it's actually decently drinakable neat, and I wouldn't put too much water in it. Seeing as it's sippable, but not actively exciting, I think that the 13 to 15 range is appropriate. I'll probably land on a 14 here.

Another quick sip here. I'd never had ouzo before so I wanted to give this a try, but I didn't have much of an opportunity to contemplate. I was surprised by how sweet this was. It isn't overwhelmingly sweet, but it definitely tastes like it has sugar syrup. The body is quite viscous and flavors of anise (definitely more on the spicy, floral side rather than deeply bitter like black licorice), a bit of clove, something kind of rich, and lots of old, musty books. The flavor is very challenging, but not all bad. The biggest problem is that there's a wormwood presence (flavor-wise, this is fine) that numbs my palate. It's certainly not as numbing as absinthe, but it doesn't take a whole lot to dull my sense of taste substantially. Between the numbing and the excessive sweetness, I don't really like the sipping experience here. I'm tempted to also criticize the lack of complexity, though I suspect that I could get a lot more out given more time, though the numbing might prevent me. The musty book flavor is weird, but interesting and I kind of dig it. I'm skeptical of this as a sipper and I have no idea what to use it as a mixer in (suggestions appreciated!), but I'm open to changing my mind (mainly for the latter, not so much as a sipper given that it's numbing). Right now, this is somewhere in the thumbs down territory.