Sweetdram Escubac Botanical Spirit

Botanical Spirit // 43% Abv // 700ml

Our botanical spirit, ESCUBAC, sits somewhere between gin, aquavit, and herbal liqueurs in terms of flavour and style. It’s inspired by an old Tudor recipe we found for an elixir called Royal Usquebaugh, which originated in England but was later adopted by the French, who renamed it ESCUBAC. The spirit became obsolete in the early 20th century and stayed that way until 2015 when we revived it as a unique, delicious gin-alternative for the modern drinker.

For our Escubac – the only version to still exist today – we first macerate 14 botanicals, including caraway, nutmeg, citrus, and cardamom, in spirit for 72 hours before we distil that mixture slowly on our custom pot still. The clean, intensely aromatic spirit we’re able to capture from the still (thanks to its distinctive helix coil head) is then steeped with raisins and vanilla for a further 72 hours.

Finally, we colour it using arguably the most critical ingredient of the original recipes: saffron. Alchemists in the 16th century, who nicknamed the elixir ‘liquid gold’, believed it embodied the healing powers of the sun – and could even pass them on to the lucky drinker!

However, while ESCUBAC will always be rooted in history and tradition, our modern version is something unmistakably unique. But don’t just take our word for it:

“If you had to make a comparison, Escubac is closest to gin. But really, it lives in its own damn house.” – Bon Appetit Magazine