Minty Amaro, fantastic in freezer

I bought this for a mere $20 USD after @cascode ‘s beaming review. It does not disappoint. After cleaning 10 inches of snow last night over a 100 foot driveway, I decided to forgo my once/every few weeks pour—-If there was a time I needed a drink, this was it. I always imagined amaro to be bitter. Not sure why...just an impression. It’s like those lay-off HR rooms at work. Ya’ll know what I’m talking about. Well at least the Americans here know what I’m talking about. The Europeans are like “ lay-off”? “ what’s that? “. So— When a company lays you off, your manager sets up your regularly scheduled 1on1 in a special room. You’re supposed to have no freakin’ idea you’re about to get laid off, but now you know when you see the invite. You know these rooms. We all have had impressions of this room. It’s a windowless sullen bland color room. No sharp objects. No whiteboard with chalks or erasers or pens. No pencils. No staplers. Nothing at all, except a well bolted down desk and a few bolted down chairs. The lay off room. Without ever entering it inside, you always would have this insidious impression of it. Somehow thinking it would be like a CIA interrogation center. But as soon as you come in, it’s not too bad. In fact, If it wasn’t for the dumbass boss and his pawn of an HR, that room would be damn cozy. Comfy chairs. Just can lean back and take a nap. Yeah...not what you’d expect as something bitter, but rather sweet...not too sweet, just right. That’s this pour in a nutshell. Amazingly aromatic of oranges and cloves. Taste a bit sweet, but that pulls back with some ice , making it just right. Oranges, cloves, rosemary, and maybe nutmeg? Damn good. Do yourselves a favor and pick this up. For sub-$30, it beats all others in that price range.

Appearance: Pale translucent amber-gold. Aroma: Orange petals and peel, wildflowers, honeycomb, fresh aromatic herbs and flowers (lavender, lemon thyme, jasmine, honeysuckle). Flavour and Texture: Citrus (lemon and orange) with honey, red cherries, vanilla pods, a hint of peppermint and a little liquorice. That's just the arrival. It expands into spicy notes (clove, saffron, sweet cinnamon, mild chilli), root extracts and more honey with a warming and comforting texture. The mouth-feel is heavy and syrupy but not cloying and it rolls off from the sweet notes into a demi-sec and slightly bitter finish, with notes of chincona, gentian and wormwood. There's an elusive note of lavender and violets as well. A wonderfully complete and balanced amaro. Quite sweet and mildly hot with a familial resemblance to Montenegro, but this is lighter, a tad sweeter and once you get to understand it, far more floral in character. You could substitute this for Montenegro in any cocktail in which it has become your "secret weapon" and it would up the ante and leave them guessing all over again. It's a brilliant amaro and like other reviewers here I'm amazed that this does not have a higher profile. "Excellent": 4.5 stars. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE - 16 June 2021 Last night I finished this bottle of amaro that I had opened in October last year. Initially it had a crisp, light character but after being open for just a few weeks it became quite heavy and syrupy, and the orange zest note dominated both the nose and palate. If consumed within a couple of months after opening I'd still call this a 5 star amaro, but if left for longer than that, particularly once the level is lowered, it diminishes to 4 stars. I’m compromising with a new overall rating of 4.5