Forthave Spirits - Four - Bittersweet Floral Liqueur 375ml)

‘FOUR’ is the fourth of the one-off, Single Batch spirits from Forthave Spirits.
The Single Batch line allows us to discover and experiment with new recipes and
production methods. It provides us the freedom to discover new flavors and
aromas, play with different types of macerations, distillations, aging, and more.
Forthave Spirits first started as two friends trying out home batches of botanical
spirits and tracing them back to their herbal, medicinal roots. With the Single Batch
line, we revisit the spontaneity and inspiration of our first experiments. Each
release in this line is a one-off, never to be repeated or recreated. Three years in
the making, there are only 2,412 bottles of FOUR available.

The genesis for FOUR began in the spring of 2020 when we distilled génépi flowers
for our seasonal aperitif. The result was a beautiful and very compelling spirit that
inspired us to distill more individual flowers: lavender flowers grown by our friends
at Goode Farm in Ballston Spa, cherry blossoms from the Hudson Valley,
elderflowers, chamomile, rose petals and more.
The next step was finding inspiration in the classic white, bitter aperitifs of France
and Italy. Blending in extractions of bitter roots would give this floral liqueur
another dimension, both grounding and framing it. We turned to the dried roots of
Gentian, a flower native to the Alps and renowned as a traditional bittering agent in
aperitifs and digestifs.
Sourced from the slopes of extinct volcanoes on the Massif Central in central
France, the gentian roots are macerated in a steel tank for several months,
imparting depth and complexity to 'FOUR'.
FOUR was then sweetened with a combination of grape must and raw cane sugar
before resting for several months prior to bottling.

FOUR begins with a bouquet of floral aromatics that jump out of the glass,
develops into a pillowy sweetness on the pallet and finishes with a balanced, bitter
ending. It can be used in place of a floral liqueur such as elderflower liqueur or in
lieu of a white bitter like a Gentiane.
It makes a beautiful aperitif when topped with soda water or sparkling wine, in a
white Negroni, over ice, or neat.