Shopping Cart

Sweetdram Escubac

£32.00

WHAT IS ESCUBAC?

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

COLOUR
Light gold

NOSE
Tropical, Christmas spice aromas. Mix of nutmeg and citrus fruit.

PALATE
Juicy, herbal, dried fruit. Sugar-soaked raisins, cinnamon, clove, and cardamom.

FINISH
Full finish with herbal notes. Long, spicy.

Caraway, cardamom, nutmeg, bitter orange, orange, lemon, cloves, orris, coriander, cubeb, cinnamon, raisins, vanilla and saffron.

Volume: 700ml 
Strength: 34% ABV
Bottle Type: Custom moulded amber glass with tapered sides
Closure: Custom debossed synthetic stopper 
Capsules: Black PVC

ESCUBAC was designed to sip as an aperitif either neat or on the rocks with a lemon twist.

Escubac also mixes phenomenally well with tonic for a simple yet complex alternative to your standard G&T, or with grapefruit soda for a refreshing long drink.

ESCUBAC & TONIC (E&T)

Add 35ml of Escubac to a highball glass then:

  1. Add ice
  2. Add tonic
  3. Add a slice of lemon
  4. Drink

Being a botanical spirit, ESCUBAC can be used as a substitute for gin in most classic cocktails, such as: Martinez, Gin Sour, Gin Fizz, Aviation, Tom Collins, French 75 and even the Negroni.

Alternatively, you can split the base spirit in any classic cocktail with ESCUBAC for a modern, playful twist. For example, try it in a Margarita (50/50 with tequila), the Penicillin (50/50 with Scotch whisky) or even a Martini (50/50 with gin).