Tamworth Distilling’s whiskies aren’t for everyone—at least when you know what’s in them. The New Hampshire outfit offers an experimental series that includes Eau de Musc, Melita Kiely of The Spirits Business explains. Its not-so-secret ingredient? Beaver castoreum, a secretion that the industrious rodents use to mark their territory.
New on tap: 45% ABV Lait de Romalea Bourbon, whose name means “milk of grasshopper.” Yep, you heard that right. Tamworth works wonders with this stinky foam, which is extracted by rubbing the insects’ abdomens. Fermenting it with black tea leaves, the distillery produces a precursor to the molecule that makes roses and bourbon smell so, well, intoxicating.
Lait de Romalea “is said to be a ‘surprisingly delightful Bourbon,’ with a ‘floral, rosy and fruity’ nose that leads to flavours of plum, berry and ‘subtle’ tobacco on the palate,” Kiely writes. All’s well that ends well.