Cappelletti Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro

Appearance: Umber brown with gold edges. Cloudy and opaque with a slightly chalky look, but the particulate matter is very fine and does not adversely affect the texture. Aroma: Earth, damp aged wood and root-extracts. Sarsparilla, cedar planks, latakia tobacco. There is an immediate smoky aroma but it is nothing like peat-reek or a campfire. It’s more like lightly charred barbecued vegetables. Flavour: Sweet smoky rhubarb, like the plant has been grilled with a sweet marinade over mesquite wood. Liquorice root, herbal tisane, bitter citrus peel. The sweetness diminishes through the development but it does not turn overly bitter or sour and settles on a balanced dryness in the finish with a smoky herbal aftertaste. Sweet, but less so than other rabarbaro I’ve tried (Zucca, for example, is a lot more syrupy). There is a pleasant dryness and strength to the smoky flavour in this amaro that sets it a little apart from other examples in this category. Pleasant as a digestif, in which role it does seem to aid digestion. If the bitterness is too much try adding a slice of orange. I’ve not tried this in any mixed drinks but I think a half teaspoon could be an interesting addition to almost any drink that uses sweet vermouth as an ingredient, as it would add an agreeable background texture and balancing dryness. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)

A striking aroma right out of the bottle, no nosing necessary. While it edges toward pungent, there is some intrigue about it. Earth, bitter roots, medicine, some citrus, rain-soaked campfire ash. Not phenolic, like a peated scotch... more like, "evocative." of smoke. Not explicitly bad, but also not a selling point. Unique, no doubt. Unusually cloudy. Whereas most liqueurs are transparent, no matter how dark, this is milky and opaque - a chalky chocolate brown. Not explicitly bad, but also not a selling point. Unique, no doubt. An above-average sweetness opens the palate, quickly revealing veins of smoked vegetation and a rich, molasses-y pumpernickel rye, then rides a building wave of bitterness throughout the mouth, which echoes for minutes. Rhubarb, obviously, but not your grandma's pie (maybe your nonna's, though). Cola. Oregano. Citrus. Menthol. Walnut. Toothpaste. Cocoa. Fennel. Explicitly: not bad, and grows on you as you start to see how it all comes together... there is the selling point. Unique, no doubt.

I believe I am in the minority here, but I'm not a big fan of this. Maybe I got a bad batch but this seems very disjointed. The nose is minty, with some rhubarb. I also get something that I can only describe as moldy. That may just be me though. The palate is heavy on smoke, almost like burnt rhubarb with a good bit of bitterness. The finish is pretty short with a bit of burn. I really didnt enjoy this neat but surprisingly I do like this in cocktails. I would give this a 2/2.25 neat but its unique enough in cocktails (only where it accents and is not the main player) that I'm going to bump it up to a 2.75. I have a feeling though it may just be me that doesnt really like it neat.

Lovely smoke on the nose, but disappointingly underwhelming in terms of smoke presence on the palate. The subdued smoke is really my only complaint, otherwise this amaro combines some of my favourite herbs - rhubarb, gentian, cinchona and wormwood. Beautiful rhurbarb notes are at the forefront and there is an underlying fruitiness and almost chocolate character. A favourite.

I love Amaris, the quirkier the better. This one, a free pour (or two) courtesy of the manager of one of my favourite Italian restaurants, was right in my timoniera, as the locals might say. There’s rhubarb upfront followed by a waft of smoke. It’s more sweet than bitter and worked well as an after-dinner drink. If you like Cynar, you’ll enjoy this.

Still absolutely love this one. Next to the oversweet Nardini Virtu di Rabarbaro, this one finally shows some smoky depth. But most of all, it is a rhubarb bomb with appropriate bitterness in the finish.