I had the opportunity to be one of the first people to ever taste the Angostura company’s latest product while at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this past July.  The company held a special media luncheon on the top floor of the Hotel Monteleone, hosted by Angostura’s global brand ambassador, Daniyel Jones.  The interesting thing was that none of the guests knew what the product was going to be.  So, it was a complete surprise that they decided to go with an amaro.  A wise choice, as Angostura’s version is noticeably different from traditional Italian or French styles, as well as having a noticable tropical character.  Luckily, I was able to take a small sample home with me, and so I present my tasting notes below.

Amaro di Angostura (70 proof)
Visual: Dark brown.
Nose: Allspice, sweet molasses, with an overlayer of rich and dark mouth-watering notes.
Taste: Clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and a much sweeter base than I was expecting.  This makes it perfect for tiki style cocktails and mixability with rums.  I particularly favor the balance between the spice and sweet elements.  In some ways, it reminds me of cinnamon red-hots, and in other of Christmas baking spices.  Truly unique.
Finish: The dry almost electric tingle of the allspice lingers for quite some time, leaving a dry and slightly bitter edge.
Overall: As I remarked when I first tasted it in New Orleans, it is love-child of sweet vermouth and pimento dram.  On its own, it is fantastic as a liqueur, but will also add pizzazz to cocktails needing some high and bitter notes that won’t go overboard.
GSN Rating: A-

For more information go to: Angostura

Filed under: Spirits & Liqueurs