I’ve written about Liba Spirits in this space before, but I never really understood what they were up to until I had the chance to meet with co-founder Devon Trevathan to discuss their latest product, Terrativo. I knew that Trevathan and her co-founder Colton Weinstein described themselves as “a nomadic distillery” and that they had released three different spirits inspired by and distilled at specific locations around the world: a New Orleans-based spirit, Lafcadio Botanical Rum, which is infused and macerated with bay leaf, orange peel, cardamom, white pepper and cherry bark; an Austrian inspiration named 1643 Alpine Gin; and a Tennessee bourbon-based aperitivo named Terrativo. But what did this really mean?
After sitting down with Trevathan, I think I get it now. Both she and Weinstein are former employees of Corsair Distillery where they learned the ins and outs of the distilling process and some business management. While Liba doesn’t have its own distillery, it’s not like they’re just contracting with someone else to make their products. On the contrary, they remain on site and actually operate the machinery under the auspices of the distillery owners.
For their latest product, Weinstein and Trevathan have partnered with their old friends at Corsair at the distillery’s new facility in Ashland City. After success infusing flavors into gin and rum with their first two products, Liba Spirits set their sights on whiskey made in Tennessee, not to be confused with Tennessee whiskey since it has not been charcoal-mellowed.
They consciously chose Corsair’s high rye bourbon mash bill to use as a base for Terrativo. (By the way, that’s an objectively fabulous name for an aperitivo, a category that has traditionally relied on the terroir and local ingredients of an area to give products a distinct sense of place. I can’t believe no one has ever thought of that before!)
Weinstein and Trevathan blended a combination of aged and unaged Corsair juice to create the backbone of their new spirit. Trevathan shared that they used a higher percentage of unaged spirits because “the aged whiskey was a bit of a flavor bully” and dominated the blend. Thanks to their experience working with Corsair, they were able to pretty much handle the entire distillation by themselves.
The next step was to create the desired flavor profile for the new product. Dedicated to using whole natural ingredients and no artificial flavors or dyes, the pair experimented with ingredients and proportions during a series of bench tests to come up with their perfect recipe. The delicate balance that they sought was between emphasizing the bourbon while also acting as an ingredient that would work as a modifier in a cocktail. The obvious analog would be another bitter aperitivo, Campari, but that starts with a neutral spirit instead of the character of bourbon.
Eventually, Liba Spirits settled on a recipe of tart cherry, fresh and dried orange peel, rhubarb, rhubarb root, hibiscus, cardamom, allspice, gentian, lovage root and cinchona bark infused into the base spirit. Some of these are traditional bittering agents common to many aperitivos, but the unique combination of flavors in Terrativo really does pay homage to Tennessee ingredients, including the use of sorghum syrup as a sweetening agent.
The result is rich, fruity and bitter, or as Trevathan describes it, “everything you’d want to add to a whiskey cocktail.” My first flavor descriptor that came to mind (and I mean this in the nicest way) was Robitussin, which I happen to enjoy the taste of, though not recreationally. (At least not since college.) The slightly oily character contributed by the fresh orange peel made for a delightful mouthfeel.
Liba Spirits has tweaked the recipe a bit between batches, but Trevathan is confident they’ve nailed it with this third iteration, which is currently on store shelves at a steal of a price of $28.99. There are very few aperitivos at that price point that are worth drinking either straight or as part of a cocktail, so this is quite an accomplishment.
Sipped out of a snifter or as the modifier of a tremendous boulevardier cocktail, or a simple highball of one part Terrativo, two parts prosecco and three parts soda water, Terrativo is a welcome addition to my bar, and I’ve really enjoyed sharing it with friends. Now I’m sharing it with you. Ask for it in bars like The Patterson House, Henrietta Red or Bay 6, or grab a bottle for home at your favorite local spirits shop.
