Cappelletti Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro

Appearance: Umber brown with gold edges. Cloudy and opaque with a slightly chalky look, but the particulate matter is very fine and does not adversely affect the texture. Aroma: Earth, damp aged wood and root-extracts. Sarsparilla, cedar planks, latakia tobacco. There is an immediate smoky aroma but it is nothing like peat-reek or a campfire. It’s more like lightly charred barbecued vegetables. Flavour: Sweet smoky rhubarb, like the plant has been grilled with a sweet marinade over mesquite wood. Liquorice root, herbal tisane, bitter citrus peel. The sweetness diminishes through the development but it does not turn overly bitter or sour and settles on a balanced dryness in the finish with a smoky herbal aftertaste. Sweet, but less so than other rabarbaro I’ve tried (Zucca, for example, is a lot more syrupy). There is a pleasant dryness and strength to the smoky flavour in this amaro that sets it a little apart from other examples in this category. Pleasant as a digestif, in which role it does seem to aid digestion. If the bitterness is too much try adding a slice of orange. I’ve not tried this in any mixed drinks but I think a half teaspoon could be an interesting addition to almost any drink that uses sweet vermouth as an ingredient, as it would add an agreeable background texture and balancing dryness. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)

Peppery, salty, rhubarb, char, sucanat, kale, white sugar

“marries a natural smokieness from the root of the Chinese rhubarb with bitter woodsiness from Alpine herbs & notes of sweet berries”

A striking aroma right out of the bottle, no nosing necessary. While it edges toward pungent, there is some intrigue about it. Earth, bitter roots, medicine, some citrus, rain-soaked campfire ash. Not phenolic, like a peated scotch... more like, "evocative." of smoke. Not explicitly bad, but also not a selling point. Unique, no doubt. Unusually cloudy. Whereas most liqueurs are transparent, no matter how dark, this is milky and opaque - a chalky chocolate brown. Not explicitly bad, but also not a selling point. Unique, no doubt. An above-average sweetness opens the palate, quickly revealing veins of smoked vegetation and a rich, molasses-y pumpernickel rye, then rides a building wave of bitterness throughout the mouth, which echoes for minutes. Rhubarb, obviously, but not your grandma's pie (maybe your nonna's, though). Cola. Oregano. Citrus. Menthol. Walnut. Toothpaste. Cocoa. Fennel. Explicitly: not bad, and grows on you as you start to see how it all comes together... there is the selling point. Unique, no doubt.

Sweet and very smooth

Cola and sweet. Maybe a splash. Not for me.

I read quite a bit of how this adds smokiness to a drink. It tastes like what you’d think Pinaud Clubman Special Reserve aftershave cologne would taste like. Leather, a vetiver likeness to it.