Hans Reisetbauer Rowanberry Eau-de-Vie

Ask Hans Reisetbauer which of his eaux-de-vie he'd choose, and the answer is this one. Rowanberry — Vogelbeere in Austrian German, the fruit of the mountain ash tree — is perhaps the most classic Alpine eau-de-vie of all, a spirit almost nobody outside Austria has tasted, and it's the bottle Hans names as his personal favorite from the entire range. The berries are small, mostly seed, with a flavor reminiscent of almond, and they grow wild: they're harvested by hand in autumn from above 700 meters in the Mühlviertel highlands of Upper Austria and across the border in the Czech Republic. After destemming, the fruit ferments for 12 days at a cool 16 to 17°C, then goes through double distillation in a Christian Carl copper pot still — heads and tails discarded, only the heart retained — and rests three years in stainless steel before bottling at 41.5% ABV. The yield is brutal: 33 kilograms, nearly 73 pounds, of rowanberries for a single liter. What you get is nothing like a fruit brandy in the usual sense. Expect bitter almond and marzipan up front, then something wilder — resinous, mountain-herbal, faintly earthy, with a dry, tannic edge and a long, warming finish that reads more like a digestif than a dessert. Best at room temperature after a heavy meal, the way it's been served in Alpine farmhouses for centuries. Rare, distinctive, and the truest taste of Austrian distilling tradition Hans makes.

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