Sugar time | All roads lead to the acerum

More and more acerum is poured into glasses as Quebec distillers embark on the adventure. This maple brandy focuses on quality and finesse. We asked two mixologists who are familiar with this spirit to taste, blindly, a selection of acerums.

It’s barely 11 a.m. at Rouge Gorge, but our cocktail creator duo is already ready to go, with a whole host of glasses, a carafe of water and two spittoons under their noses.

To my left, Manu Ruiz, who welcomes us into the establishment where he works behind the bar. To my right, Vanessa Vachon, her counterpart at Ratafia. In a bag, out of sight, six bottles from distilleries throughout Quebec (around ten distillers produce acerum across the province).

They have been using this eau-de-vie for several months, served pure – at room temperature, without ice, so as not to inhibit its aromas – or integrated into cocktails, Vanessa liking to pour it into classic formulas (ti-punch , paper plane, martini, etc.), Manu coating it in creations (like the Zack Taylor, playing on sesame, cocoa and Italian cherry liqueur, aged balsamic vinegar, among others).

To avoid preconceptions among their customers about this still little-known product, they always offer a small sample beforehand, without revealing its identity, to see if their taste buds are happy – and this would frequently be the case. So let’s get their opinion on the six proposals submitted for tasting.

1. White Témiscouata: on the banks of versatility

Our testers’ verdict for this white acerum: tropical nose (ripe pineapple), with freshness and vegetal and saline aromas (salicornus). Above all, the two cocktail creators insist on its versatility. “It has character, but it remains the most versatile of all those we have tasted, as a substitute in any classic cocktail based on any white alcohol. It is the one that comes closest to a neutral alcohol, without it being neutral,” explain the tasters. “There is a side of pleasure, the fun », concludes Manu.

Distillerie Témiscouata Acerum white, $58

Consult the SAQ sheet

2. Fove Distillery: vegetal and delicious white

This white acerum distilled by Fove is unanimously appreciated. ” Delicious ! 10/10! “, enthuses the Ratafia mixologist, convinced by a pure and vegetal nose: “I would serve it as is without any problem. If it had to be worked on, it would be as a substitute for cachaça. » “It’s like dead leaves on the nose, the mouth is really fun, there’s a little bitterness, a vegetal side, without it being pejorative: it’s grassy, ​​it’s reminiscent of sugar cane. We can clearly see that it comes from a plant,” adds Manu, also won over.

Fove Acerum white, $47

Consult the SAQ sheet

3. Domaine Small: a question of opening

This organic amber acerum is aged for 2 years in bourbon barrels. “In the mouth, it’s interesting, it tingles around the tongue, but the middle is spared,” Vanessa is surprised. “It smells not of cork, but of the humidity of a cellar without wine,” notes Manu, who would work it with coffee. He thinks that by retaining a little more sugar during manufacturing, everything would have been softened. Thirty minutes after the first tasting, they found that the product had opened up and appreciated it better.

Amber acerum aged 2 years, Domaine Small, $75, offered at the distillery boutique.

Visit the Domaine Small website

4. Mitis Distillery: exoticism and texture

Our two testers really liked the nose, full of exotic fruits, “charming and fragrant” of this Gaspé acerum. On the palate, Vanessa notes notes of salted butter caramel with “a fatty side, very pleasant”. The drink actually displays 43% alcohol. Manu agrees: “There’s a lot of texture, it coats really well,” he adds. A cocktail with that? Mai tai, daiquiri, pina colada, offers the duo. “I wouldn’t be embarrassed to work it in an old fashioned way,” suggests the mixologist at Rouge Gorge.

Barrel-aged Mitis Acerum Distillery, $65.75

Consult the SAQ sheet

5. Brown Témiscouata: letters of nobility

“It tastes like the raw product, it reminds us of the smell in a sugar bush during the reduction. The taste is delicious, the texture is not too oily. This product has great potential to be premium,” says Vanessa while tasting this brown acerum from Témiscouata. Manu would happily accompany it with a chômeur pudding. While tying a tie. “It’s the one that seems the most noble and refined to me. » The duo agrees on the notes: caramel, toasted side, beeswax, maple water.

Distillerie Témiscouata Acerum brown, $59.75

Consult the SAQ sheet

6. St. Laurent: scents of maple and air of whiskey

Without knowing it, our friends are heading to Rimouski with St. Laurent acerum aged for 3 years. Manu detects maple on the nose and on the palate, without excess sugar, and an obvious passage in barrel. Vanessa doesn’t find the maple aroma so pronounced on the palate, but judges that it also stands out. “To someone who is used to drinking whiskey, I would not be embarrassed to serve it worked in a cocktail… or not, because the feeling in the mouth is still similar, with wood. »

St. Laurent Acerum Maple Spirit 3 years, $69

Consult the SAQ sheet