45% ABV, 750 ml, Woody smoke, earthy, vegetal, light fruit and sweetness. Neat, with tonic, or in a stiff clean classic drink..
Empirical is a flavor company in Denmark, taking a flavor-first approach to making unique spirits with great ingredients and turn them into delicious experiences.
Ingredients: Smoked Jerusalem Artichoke Leaf, Pilsner Malt, Pearled Barley, Yeast WLP 566, Aspergillus Oryzae, Water
"An exploration of tea-making techniques
Excess & Debauchery is an exploration of tea-making techniques. Jerusalem artichoke leaves are hand-rolled to oxidize and then air-dried, unlocking vegetal notes and light green sweetness. The leaves are smoked with the wood of a used Oloroso sherry cask, bringing aromas reminiscent of cured tobacco.
The final spirit is aged for four months in ex-Bourbon casks to round it off and bring further depth, sweetness, and woody aromas.
One rainy morning, we visited Søren Wiuff’s farm outside of Copenhagen to look at a
potential harvest of mirabelle plum. Instead, we got hooked on the long and stalky leaves of Jerusalem artichokes. While they are traditionally used as feed, they exuded very green, earthy and pleasantly bitter flavors we wanted to further explore.
We turned to the world of tea-making to unlock new nuances.
We were on our way to make a tea without using the traditional Camellia Sinensis. We first bruised the Jerusalem artichoke leaves and rolled them to start the oxidizing process. This method, imperative to the flavor of oolong tea and black tea, gave a layer of complexity to the naturally astringent leaves. We ended the process by air-drying the leaves and allowing the enzymes to denature.
Beautiful cured tobacco leaf flavor
To bring more depth we took a page out of the history of smoked teas. As we were about to retire one of our oloroso sherry casks, our Head of R&D Chris set about breaking it down and chipping it to smoke-dry the leaves. This yielded the beautiful cured tobacco leaf flavor that we were hoping for.
A deep earthy vegetal body
After distillation, the blend spent four months in an ex-Bourbon Ehime cask to round it off. The result is a robust woody smoke, deep earthy vegetal body, heightened by a whisper of fruit and sweetness from its time in the cask."
