There are a few mad scientists out there pushing the boundaries of a spirit’s history or marrying the epically old with something fresh and new. We say salud! to these spirit makers who refuse to play by the rules.
Banks 5 Island Rum
Remember Clear Pepsi? That was awful. This? This is a triumph. Blending more than 20 rums from five distinct countries (Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados and Java), Master Distiller Arnaud de Trabuc forgoes adding caramel coloring, a process commonly used to lend color continuity to aged rums. Instead he sends his richly spiced rum blend through a charcoal filtration process, removing the color. You get notes of ripe melon and banana, followed by a mellow, distinctly aged flavor in a rum that’s as clear as the ice you pour it over. $30, banksrum.com
FAIR. Quinoa Vodka
The Fair Trade Spirits Co. does double duty on pushing boundaries in distillation. The company is the world’s first to be certified “fair trade” for spirits, and it earned the designation producing a quinoa vodka. Nine different organic quinoa grains go into the dram that won Best Tasting Vodka in 2009 at the New York Spirit Award, and nothing should make you feel better about imbibing than knowing that the 1,200 Bolivian farmers who work to cultivate the quinoa are paid a fair and living wage. Bonus: The company also produces Altiplano, an organic, fair-trade quinoa beer. $33, fairtradespirits.com
G’vine Floraison Gin
Challenging the preconceived (and oh so British) notions of gin, this French company produces an atypical version that begins with a grape spirit, rather than a neutral grain. The vineyard theme continues with rare, hand-harvested green grape flower; it’s left in the spirit to macerate for days, trapping each blossom’s graceful fragrance. Nine other fresh, whole-fruit botanicals—ginger root, licorice, cassia bark, green cardamom, coriander, cubeb berries, nutmeg, lime and the requisite juniper—give warm spice to charming, light florals. $31, g-vine.com
AGWA de Bolivia
Really want to bend the rules? Try the world’s most notorious plant turned into a liqueur. Bolivian coca leaves (yes, the same ones that result in cocaine) travel under armed guard to Amsterdam, where they’re distilled with additions of guarana, ginseng and approximately 32 other herbs, resulting in a hazardously green liqueur. Never fear; the resulting product will not turn you into a scene from “Scarface”; it does, however, add a peppery, herbal, caffeine-fueled kick to Tiki-style cocktails. $32, agwabuzz.com
Del Maguey Single Village Pechuga Mezcal
The making of Del Maguey’s Pechuga line is part sacred ritual, part painstaking distillation. Founder Ron Cooper releases only a very limited bottling (650 last year), and the process begins with a base of Del Maguey’s Minero mezcal. In a third distillation, wild-harvested apples join plums, red plantains, pineapples, almonds, white rice and a whole raw chicken carcass. (Sans skin, the chicken’s cleaned in running water and then hung in the still, so that the vapor passes through it before condensing. The bird is honored in a family’s altar room upon completion.) The final liquid is a symphony of light fruit, lovely smoke—and the unmistakable essence of a sacrificed fowl. $200, mezcal.com