Liquorists

Captain Morgan Parrot Bay coconut flavoured liqueur. Quite a mouthful.
While the bottle in front of me looks a bit different then the one the left (see bottem picture), the caribbean rum based spirit inside should be about the same.
Where the bottle in the left is 24% alcohol (48 proof) the one in front is me is 20% (40 proof). And it has to be said, i do like the bottle design, especially with the beach concept printed on the inside of the sticker on the back.

A luscious blend of Irish Cream, honey and mellow irish spirits, is what this 17% alcohol (34 proof) containing bottle is telling me.

And this seems rather true. The typical coloured irish cream smells like one would expect from a irish cream, but with a sweet hint of honey.

Tastewise, it's basicly the same story. It's nice and creamy, and leaves just a slight hint of a alcohol burn on the tongue, and almost no burn down the throat.
Besides that, the overall taste is like a mix between very creamy and milky coffee, and a more darker chocolate. With honey in the mix.

To clear some confusion, the bottle i have in my hands is the Gorter Estaro White Label Dark rum.
Label looks different then the picture shown, but i've seen both in the shop. Something with new designes etc.

But on topic: a dark rum that hints towards the golden colours.
The sense is rather light, and if i didn't know this was a dark rum, i would have guessed a light/blanco rum. Just because it has a more light and fresh feel to it. Maybe even a tiny hint of citrus, but no woody or smokey factors.
You do get a bit of alcohol, but nothing strange. The alcohol content is standard, 37.5% (75 proof).

A 55% (110 proof) absinthe from France. And that is where my struggle starts.
There seem to be two versions that look very very similar, and i have a little sample bottle, written in French. And i don't speak a word French.

But, seeing as the two versions are a American version, and a European version. Seeing as this thing is written in French and i clearly bought it in Europe, i am going to assume i have that version...

Everyone knows Bacardi, and everyone can get Bacardi, making it one of the biggest rum brands around.

This particular gold (can be called oro aswel) is priced a little above the average rum i usually encounter, with around €17,- for a 70CL bottle. As usual, this rum sports a 37.5% alcohol (75 proof).

The colour, is obviously, a amber or rich gold.
When taking the first *sniff*, you will get some ethanol properties, but that soon makes place for a pleasant vanilla with some hints of sweet oak.

This orange liqueur from Van Perlstein is about average priced, around €6,- for a 35CL bottle, and contains 30% alcohol (60 proof).

As shown the bottle has nothing special going on, just a normal regular bottle. The orange fluid inside has surprisingly little alcohol in it's smell, it's mostly smelling like a orange based soda (like fanta, etc).
It's a very light crisp smell, with no bitterness.

That bitterness does come out in the aftertaste thought. The front end remains a bit light, but the orangy/citrus is not as prominent as in the smell.
After that initial orangy taste, the bitterness starts to hit on the back of the tongue. Yet again not much alcohol taste, but you will get some hints of it when the alcohol starts to evaporate inside the mouth, and by that time the lips and edges of the tongue will start to tingle a bit from the alcohol.
There isn't a real burning or warming sensation in the throat though.

Right from the start i'll have to say, there isn't much to say here that i didn't already tell in the Bailey's and Bailey's Mint Chocolate posts.

Since it really is, Regular Bailey's, with a hint of Coffee. Not a fake cheap coffee, but a nice and smooth one with a darker hint to the coffee bit.
Ofcourse because of the Bailey's itself the drink is creamy, therefor mellowing out every sharp edges there might be. But the coffee taste itself does have a little bit of a sharpness to it, but that is probably the combination of a little bit of mint that is working together with the coffee to create that effect.

This white rum is named after the Jamaican capital Kingston, contains 37.5% alcohol (75 proof) and is around the middle/lower budget range of rums. Costing around €13/14,- for a 100CL bottle.

While some white rums are a little bit coloured, this one is as clear as it can get. As the picture shows the bottle is just a average looking bottle, nothing to write home about.

The scent is a sharp one, that hints towards ethanol, but isn't strong. Not much rum in the nose, but what you do get is really light.

When drinking this spirit, you will notice a little numbing on the sides of the tongue and quite allot of alcohol. Not that it burns, the alcohol taste is more from the nose department as it vaporises in your mouth.
A typical sharp but light rum that doesn't have allot of forced sweetness.

Pisang Ambon Mellow is a banana flavoured liqueur from Lucas Bols, contains 14.5% alcohol ( 29 proof ) and around €12,- for a 70CL bottle. The Mellow version has a bit less alcohol then the normal version, and is therefor allowed to be sold in more places.

There isn't allot to tell about the colour and bottle that you can't see in the picture, so i'll just leave it at that.

The bottle tells me it is a exotic fruit drink with a hint of banana taste. Well when smelling it, i do get banana. No subtile fruity banana tho, but candy like. In fact the aroma reminds me of the round chewing gum you can grab from a machine.
You don't really have to drown your nose in the drink to smell it, it's a strong scent that grabs you, even when just opening the bottle. But not offensive at all.

A cinnamon schnapps from Lucas Bols, with actual gold(flakes) in it. Altho allot of cinnamon schnapps seem to handle the gold theme.

Facts are; 23.5 karat gold flakes that float around(no, they do not cause harm and are digested just fine), costs around €15,- for a 50CL bottle, and contains 50% alcohol (100 proof).

Now to start off, yes, the goldflakes do look awesome, and since the *servingtip* is to drink the liqueur chilled as shots, you can enjoy them in all their glory.
Besides the gold, the liquid crystalclear.

Diving in nosefirst results in a little alcoholsmell, but just a tiny amount. With less drastic smelling tactics the drink has a very strong cinnamon smell to it.
And in fact, the same goes for the taste. At first, it will start to tingle on the tip of the tongue, give you a cinnamon explosion in your mouth, and end in a warm little burn in the upper throat.

Another product from Boomsma Distillery, a gold/dark rum. 37.5% (75 proof) alcohol, and blended from a few different Caribbean rums.
With a price around €9,- for a 70CL bottle, priced more towards the lower budget range.

That reveals itself in the smell a little bit. You do get quite some ethanol if you dive in deep. But also a darker rum smell that isn't overwelming strong, but smells a bit warm. With a very tiny hint of spice (caramel) once in a while. Since the label tells me well matured, no surprise there.

The taste pure is not for the weak hearted, from almost nothing initially on the tongue, to a dark heavy rum near the back of the tongue. With a little tickling on the sides of the tongue from the alcohol, that turns into a warm feeling further down the throat. The alcohol evaporating right away in the mouth causes a strong taste/smell sensation at first, but dims out quite a bit after you are used to it.
Then it takes place for a more bitter, i almost want to say woody taste. But not as in whiskey, not sweet, no smoke.

When mixed into other drinks all alcohol related smell and taste issues disappear right away, as usual. What remains is a dark/bitter rum taste, in a more mellow way. Exactly as the well matured on the bottle suggested.

A brand without allot of info, my favorite.
This is one of the 2 absinthe products this brand has. One beeing the 55.5, and the other, the one i am dealing with today, 77.7.

Like the name maybe already suggested, this version is rocking a 77.7% alcohol ( 155.4 proof). And while the bottle has a serving tip of drinking it pure on the rocks, that might be a little potent for some of us.
Because this is a rather low end absinthe, it isn't as *real* as the more expensive brands, and therefor made with artificial flavors, and colors.

The fluid itself isn't as bright green as the picture might suggest, more a mix between green yellow and gold. The odor if this absinthe is a really strong one. Black liquorice and a little bit of anise almost punch you in the face. A really strong smell that leaves no room for anything else, including alcohol. Diving in the glass nosedeep will reveal some ethanol, but not much.

This absinthe does in fact louche when mixed with water (see this article, and this follow up for more info) and becomes cloudy white.
When drinking pure, the massive amount of alcohol will immediately attack your tongue, and it will begin to tickle and numb right away. At first you will get the minty anis on the tip of your tongue, and that will go into a heavy black liquorice aftertase on the back end of the tongue. And a rather bitter aftertase.

Now who doesn't know this famous brand, or atleast, recognize the distinctive bottle it's shipped in.
The story behind this brand and it's amaretto is one with a long history, according to their website it has been around since 1525. The liqueur itself is a almond tasting liqueur, that actually does not contain almonds, or other nut based ingredients.
But it contains apricot kernel oil, alcohol (28% or 56 proof), sugar, and a few herbs.

The fluid itself is obviously a classy amber colour as you can see in the picture. The smell is a really sweet almond, almost almond spice odor, wich masks the alcohol really well. You have to dig really deep to actually smell the alcohol.

The same thing goes for the taste. It is yet again really sweet, a little bit bitter sweet, and hints at the almond spice again. But with a little bit of added alcohol. Nothing extreme, and in the taste, you won't really notice it that much, especially when chilled. The most notable about the alcohol is a small burn it leaves in the throat and to the sides of the tip of the tongue.

Jachtbitter, a herbal liqueur.
So now the big challenge, writing a description without mentioning jägermeister. But i already did it so i might aswel continue.

This coppery brown liquid is clear, and dark enough that it's hard to see through a glass. In tiny amounts the more brown-red colour becomes more visual.

The liquid itself, contains 30% alcohol(60 proof) and, tada, contains herbs. This results in the typical smell and taste most herbal drinks have, the more medicine-type taste profiles. But not in a bad way.
On the nose this smells a bit sweeter then the average "bitter". And the same goes for the taste.
While the drink contains not the least amount of alcohol, you will only get a little burning sensation on the edges of the tongue, and a warming feeling deep inside. Making it a great drink for when the weather gets cold.

To discribe the actual taste...the easiest is to compair it the herbal "bitter" everyone knows, jägermeister. Compaired to jäger this drink has no black liquorice in it.
There is some mint going on, chilling the sensation a bit. For the sweeter factor i'm hinting at raisins, far from as sweet, but someone it reminds me a little bit of them. Especially the aftertaste raisins leave in your mouth (the yellow ones rather then the black one).

Everyone know's Bailey's by now. If not, shame on you.
This time i've put my hands on the mint chocolate version if this liqueur. So to see the original Bailey's review click here, since this version is just a slight variation on the original.

So all the basic features are exactly the same, 17% alcohol (34 proof), the same colour, and the smell is almost the same aswel. The bottle says; with a hint of mint and chocolate, and thats exactly as it is. Nothing overwhelming, just bailey's with a tiny little hint of mint, and a bit more prominent dark chocolate.
For Bailey's fans, this should be a no-brainer, since the original has chocolate in it's tasteprofile aswel. This time it's just a bit more prominent, and darker.
Little bit more bitter, but, that's the pure chocolate.

Other then this, not much else to say, the drink gives exactly what the bottle tells you. Bailey's with a hint of mint and chocolate. Besides that, it's still the same, so a smooth creamy liqueur. That tends to do some strange things when mixed with peach schnapps.

Bailey's website, right here!

Another gold rum in the lower end bracket, and yet another one without a website ( to my knowledge).
This 37.5% alcohol( 75 proof) containing golden rum in a really simplistic bottledesign, has a rather light yellow gold colour, a bit lighter then what's usually the case with *golden* rums.

The rum doesn't has much nose, so in the end it will give the impression of beeing quite potent. Only due the alcohol overwhelming the other odors.
The bigger the surprise was when i realized when tasting this rum, it hints more at the sweet part of the pallet in the beginning, almost like a spiced rum. But it doesn't have the caramel taste a spiced rum has, it does hint in that direction. Especially in the very beginnig of the sip.
Only when swallowing the spirit releases the typical alcohol *taste* and leaves the intire mouth a little numb, especially the tip of the tongue. And it ends with surprising little burn down the throat.

Especially for a lower end rum, we are talking about around €9,- for a 70CL bottle, this tends to be rather mellow, and due this it will blend in really good into your cocktails. Where spirits in this pricerange are usually ment for.

Overall, quite a good deal if you ask me. Really does a good job in the mixing section, what surprised me a bit since usually cheaper brands tend to be much sharper.

As usual, no website again, so unfortunally no link for additional information...yet. I'll see what i can do.

From out of nowhere, a banana flavoured liqueur!
Besides finding the bottle in a liquorstore, there seems to be no information about this brand on the internet. Besides some obscure site i can't read.

Starting off, this yellow light gold-ish looking liquor contains 20% alcohol (40 proof).
The bottle design is exactly the same as the mandarin flavoured version shown here.
The liquid smells, obviously, like banana. Much sweeter and stronger then a regular banana, but not as fake as banana candy.

The taste however, is balanced around sweetness. Less banana then you get at first in the smell, and more sugary sweetness. Including the more bittersweet aftertaste like most sweet liqueurs.
Besides a tiny little numbing on the very tip of the tongue there isn't much alcohol scent going on. But the drink is very flavour potent, in a way that if you overdo it, you'll get enough of it very fast. Yet again, just like sweet candy.

When mixing in cocktails, besides making the drink a bit sweeter, you will get a banana hint going on, surprizingly not overwhelming the drink.

All in all, a nice sweet lower end french banana liqueur, around €6,- for a 35CL bottle.

If anyone has a site or other information about this brand in general, feel free to comment me on it, that would be much appreciated.

Time for another lower budged liquor, to be more specific, the Old Pascas Ron Negro Dark rum, a whole mouth full.

This honey gold colloured rum has a busy classic looking bottle, as seen in the picture, and retails for around €8,- for a 70CL bottle.
The rum is originated in Barbados and contains 37.5% alcohol ( 75 proof ).

This rum smells pritty average for a dark rum.
When drinking pure you sertainly notice the alcohol, not that you will really taste it, but more notice the alcohol vaporize. It also has a strong aftertaste that remains quite prominent.
While for example the Havana Club añejo has a more direct attack, this rum takes a little bit longer to kick in. Maybe thats why it says rich and mild on the bottle. Although i have to say i find it not especially mild or rich. But then again, who would expect that for this pricetag.
In a cocktail this rum blends right in like most rums, nothing special.

Conclusion, an average rum for its pricetag, and due that price, it won't be a big waste if it isn't what one would expect. Afterall, normally speaking, cheaper liquors tend to be best used in cocktails anyway.

Since i could not find any website from the distillers themself (if someone knows, a comment would be appriciated), so here is a link to the (German) importer: Borko

Time to get my hands onto a scotch whiskey this time, glen talloch blended scotch whiskey to be precise.
This is a relatively famous whiskey in the Netherlands. More info about that on this website.

This gold yellow coloured whiskey smells a bit less sweet then your average whiskey, with almost no smoke on the nose. Quite a nice smelling whiskey.
In the taste itself there is remarkably little smokyness aswel, and all your senses get bombarded with the pure whiskey taste. Nothing of the taste gets hidden in the smoke this way, and that isn't a bad thing in this case. While the very first hint is a sweet one, later on you get a more pure woody after taste. A bit on the bitter side but not in a bad way.
The after taste itself remains prominent for a minute or so, but is yet subtile in the same time.

When mixing with coke, the whiskey smell remains the prominent smell, but it does mellow out. Taste wise the coke really mellows the whiskey out, so even non whiskey drinkers might even enjoy it. Also the after taste gets allot less. A little alcohol burn down the throat will still remind you that you are drinking a strong spirit (40% or 80 proof).

All in all this is a very approachable whiskey, with hardly any of the offensive whiskey flavours going on that might put people off. More suprising is that this whiskey is more on the lower budget range with around €15,- for a 70CL bottle. Not a surprise that this whiskey is the best selling whiskey in the Netherlands.
It's a very old 100% scotch whiskey, with allot of single malts blended in.

Definatly worth a try if you are into, or maybe even if you aren't yet into whiskey.

Website: Here

Yet another aluminium bottle this time. And besides a fasion reason, it's also because this way this vodka will get chilled quicker. And we all know you should drink your vodka chilled. With the wide plastic cap on top it does remind me a little bit of a vacuum flask.

I don't think i really have to go into how this stuff looks, since, well, it's vodka. So that means i can start off right at the nose.
Which impressed me a bit. Since it's vodka you won't get all kinds of aroma's going on, but the alcohol scent on this one isn't very strong.
I could tell it has a very hint of fruitiness, but that would probably because it says so on their website and i am imagining it, so that would be almost non existant. You could call it a bit crisp instead.

Now, the taste is simular to the smell. You get a bit bitter alcohol taste right away, and it will numb the tongue rather quick. But the bitterness seems to be in the taste itself and only lasts seconds, and then the warm fuzzy feeling deep inside. No direct vodka burn in the throat itself though, it's more the slight bitterness of the taste.

But that is ofcourse when drinking pure, and i don't recall anyone drinking vodka for it's taste. It's either shots, or cocktails. And in cocktails this danzka vodka will blend right in.
A little more on the bitter side (like i mentioned allot by now) then i am used to, but less of the normal vodka taste. On stronger tasting cocktails, for example a white russian, the vodka taste will be even less prominent and almost gone.
All in all a really good deal for the pricerange we are talking about (around €14,-/15,- for a 75CL bottle). Especially when you aren't really focussing on tasting the vodka, you won't notice much of it, besides the effect of the alcohol later in the evening.
I can say it could compete with some brands priced a little higher perfectly well.

For more information visit their website: Danzka vodka (or just click on the picture above)