Spirits | United States | Forthave | Black

Black

NOTES

BLACK is the latest in Forthave’s color series - Aaron and Daniel’s take on classic botanical spirits. BLACK is made using walnuts foraged from a friend’s upstate New York property. Forthave broke with the Nocino tradition of harvesting black walnuts when they're young, soft, and at their most fragrant (beginning of summer), by harvesting later, in mid-July, extending maceration time and using limited additives, including a lemon peel, Tahitian vanilla and an unnamed secret ingredient.

“Late harvest walnuts were definitely a little more laborious to cut up,” says de la Nuez. “But our theory with late harvest is that the polyphenolic compounds are going to be richer so you can extract more flavor.” Fox points out that even though the tradition of harvesting close to the summer solstice is strong, walnut trees don’t ripen all at once: “The nutty woodiness really comes through in the ones we pick later,” he says.

Enjoy it mixed with coffee, over ice cream or neat after a good meal.