Rochelt Wachauer Marille

There are not a ton of eau-de-vie's in my area, so I often have to search online for these. The best one's that I have found are Capreolus, Reisetbauer, Etter and Clear Creek, but probably the greatest of them all is Rochelt. I would say I'm surprised that more bottles are not on Distiller, however, the price tag is considerable. You can get 4 small flask bottles of this, Gravenstein apple, quince and cherry at some retailers, but it's not easy to find these bottles. This one specifically, may be the finest eau-de-vie I have ever had, although I have others still unopened, I find it hard to believe any are better. The nose is quite tropical, but the essence of the fruit shines, almost like an apricot jam. The palate is oily, with vanilla notes and ripe apricot. The finish has a bit of a menthol note to it, while despite the 100 proof, still has virtually no burn. The apricot notes are left on your tongue for a long time. If you are a fan of apricot or like apricot brandy, this spirit is for you. It will open your eyes to how incredible a truly great eau-de-vie can be. I have others from Rochelt, Capreolus, Reisetbauer, Etter and Clear Creek to try, but it's hard to imagine any being as good as this one. The vintage I tried was the 2016. All of Rochelt's eau-de-vie's are aged in demijohns for nearly 10 years, some longer and all are 100 proof or stronger. I have also tried the Rochelt Gravenstein 2013, which I would rate a 3.75, very solid, as well as Rochelt Quince 2006 which I would say is a 4 (granted I'm not a huge quince fan, so I'm guessing most would rate it even higher than that). I have yet to taste an eau-de-vie from Rochelt that is not amazing, but this is truly one of the greatest spirits out there and the first perfect score I have ever given.