Today we're back with another Scarlet amaro from the one and only Iseya!

Amaro fans should already be familiar with the blitz that is Iseya - based in Obara, it is founded and led by former bartender Tatsuya Motonaga. Motonaga had served as a bartender in some of Japan's most established bars, from Bar Caol Ila to Bar Benfiddich. Eventually a trip to Europe convinced Motonaga that he ought to bring bitters and amaro making to Japan.

Making such liqueurs is not easy in the slightest, with each requiring a careful calibration of at least 50 ingredients that have to be blended together harmoniously, with each botanical harvested at its own peak of season and treated in a particular manner that coaxes out the desired flavours. It's an incredibly complex process and that's why Motonaga's Iseya has been steadily winning fans all over!

In his 100-year-old traditional Japanese house, Motonaga conducts the thoughtful work of planning the botanicals he requires and then planting and harvesting them on his own, or with the help of local farmers. He's named the brand Scarlet for the deep reddish hue his bitters take from the colour pigment that was once derived from rare cochineal beetles - a pigment that was once so highly prized in the ancient world that wars were fought over it, as it enabled artists and textile makers to produce vibrant carmine tones.

| Read: One Man Is Introducing Japan To Its Own Bitters - Iseya Distillery

Motonaga careful harvests and prepares each ingredient, steeping them in local Japanese vodka, before then ageing them in whisky barrels sourced from local Japanese whisky makers. The work is incredibly manual and taxing, and thus each month, a little over 1,000 bottles of his liqueurs are produced, making them highly sought after!

Since its establishment in 2020, the distillery has now produced a range of liqueurs, with multiple versions of its Amaro, as well as continues to produce its flagship Scarlet Bitter.

Black cumin - the final piece of the (amaro) puzzle!

Today we're really lucky to get to try Iseya's Scarlet Radice. "Radice" is the Italian word for "root" and thus as you might expect, this is a more root forward Amaro! We do know that is includes bergamot, angelica, licorice, ukogi and chicory, with the final piece that Motonaga was said to be searching for for quite some time - black cumin, which he had finally discovered on a trip to Hong Kong. Over 30 botanicals are used here!

PS. Shoutout to Bar Madame in Singapore for stocking up on this incredible liqueur - if you're a liqueur fan / if you're not (yet) into liqueurs, you have to try this and find out what the fuss is all about - don't take it from us, try it yourself!  

Liqueur Review: Scarlet Radice Amaro, ISEYA Distillery

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Burnt Orange

Aroma: Incredibly aromatic, opening up with a tangy scent of orange blossoms and finger limes, it’s bright and fresh, almost like a herb garden, with more on angelica roots, menthol, and bergamot at the base. Digging into it deeper, there’s a herbaceous quality to it as well of thyme and rosemary, and also rich florals of lavender, irises, violets and white lilies. It’s almost like a potpourri of dried citrus peels, herbal roots, freshly pounded herbs and a bouquet of florals. They all come together bright yet rich, with a fresh zestiness, reminiscent of a fragrance diffuser. It’s cohesive and layered, yet has a distinct citrusy profile.

Taste: It’s medium-bodied, yet not particularly heavy here. It leads with some peppery kick, along with those citruses of orange blossoms, finger limes and bergamot. This is layered on a bed of florals or white lilies, lavender and violets. There’s of course a syrupy sweetness that forms the body, something of brown sugar and honey, yet it almost seems to take backseat to the profuse aromatics. Into the finish, burnt orange peels emerge giving a more pronounced bitterness. It’s incredibly aromatic, rich and again very cohesive.

Finish: It turns more bitter and earthy here, with a more prominent hit of those medicinal roots of angelica and licorice. It has an overt burnt quality to the finish. That bitterness of burnt orange peels and torched earth persists, upon a bed of brown sugar and manuka honey. It’s also more dry here as well, much in the way of burnt oak. That intense aromatic quality stays on the finish, yet it is clean with just a touch of bitterness.

My Thoughts

This was so incredibly aromatic! It's fresh and has overt layers of citruses about it, giving it a zestiness and tang, yet at the same time the richness needed to round it off. On the nose it feels like you're stepping into a fresh and crisp herb garden, with a bed of potpourri beneath it - perhaps a spa resort as well. It's complex yet cohesive and comes together really nicely, belying its subtle mastery. 

On the palate, it keeps all of those aromatics, coaxed into a body of brown sugar and honey. Yet here it's not overly perfumery nor particularly heavy - it strikes a good balance of keeping well within the richness that its body offers, like a perfumed syrup or a floral honey. It's really only into the finish that this bitterness of burnt orange peels really start to show up, striking a really refreshing yet well defined bitterness that opens the floor to those root driven flavours of angelica and licorice. It's not intensely bitter, always keeping itself rounded with that body of brown sugar and honey. Yet before you might suspect it cloying, it does clean up into a lovely dryness into the finish. Lingering aromatics go on for quite some time.

This is honestly incredible even on its own, superbly aromatic, multi-layered in its complexity, and then finishing with a well-balanced and timed bitterness of the herbal and medicinal roots, ending with a nice clean and dry finish, with just the aromatics staying on. It's liquid potpourri! This goes perfectly with a highball, and is a serious move for any bartender looking to give their cocktail a real leg up!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot