Rochelt!! Mirabelle '09, Schlehe '10, Wildpflaume '14, Schwarze Ribisel '13, Wilde Vogelbeere '14

It's the end of the year and we're going out _hard_. And at the end of a year when I've really tried to lean into fruit brandy, it makes sense to close things out with the most instagrammable producer of all: Rochelt from Tyrol in Austria. Yes, the bottles (not featured in this video, since I only got my goodies in a split) are very very green and very very expensive, but more important is what's behind it: wild-fermented, double-distilled fruit schnapps that's been aged in glass and then bottled at 50% or better. Which is, cost no object, exactly what I'd love to see more of in this category. So let's see what these folks from Fritzens have got:

Rochelt Mirabelle 2009 (Mirabelle Plum; L. 147 / 22; 50% ABV), 86/100
Rochelt Schlehe 2010 (Sloe Plum/Blackthorn ; L. 129 / 20; 50% ABV), 88+/100
Rochelt Wildpflaume 2014 (Wild Plum from the Piedmont; L.161 / 22; 50% ABV), 87-/100
Rochelt Schwarze Ribisel 2013 (Black Currant; L.128 / 22; 52% ABV), 90/100
Rochelt Wilde Vogelbeere 2014 (Wild Rowanberry; L. 98 / 21; 52% ABV), 87+/100

And I don't know what I can add beyond the video itself, really. They're all very good, and the Black Currant in particular is just friggin' glorious. Would I buy one for myself? Absolutely not, the price tag is just too damn prohibitive. But I'm really glad they exist, because this is exactly the kind of thing I'd like to see more of from the category.

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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