Another outstanding amaro from a small distillery in the Piemont region of Italy (in the far northwest, bordering France and Switzerland, containing the cities of Asti and Turin). I picked this up at Vitis Fine Wines and Spirits at Union Market here in Washington DC. I've never heard of Foro in my various amaro journeys, so I snapped it up.
Bottled at a pleasing 30% ABV, their website notes their traditional method of distilling: "We hand select over 25 herbs, which are steeped in a distinctive molasses-based spirit infused with the scented rinds of mandarin oranges and lemons from the sun-kissed fields of Piemonte." Very promising. Let's dig in:
Nose: Straight up root beer. Sarsaparilla, roots, vanilla, chocolate. Sweet orange, tangerine maybe, and soft gentian root. Definitely on the sweeter side, less astringent than many - my guess is few (if any) of the 25 ingredients are tree bark/chinchona.
Mouthfeel: Extremely syrupy.
Palate: More root beer. Chocolate and herbs. Molasses and citrus. It's bright and sweet with a very strong backbone of spicy root beer, like Barq's perhaps.
Finish: Short, herbal, and dry. Quite a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the palate, it dries up right on your tongue. Nice.
Verdict: This could easily work as a "boozy root beer" in any cocktail recipe - it's so surprisingly similar to commercial root beers, its a little absurd - although the addition of citrus and chocolate is welcome. Foro is good quality, but due to the thickness and overall molasses quality, should be taken with ice, or in small doses - a little goes a long way with this. Good stuff.
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