About us
Clear Libations is an independent blog dedicated to charting the world of eaux de vie and other flavour-driven clear spirits (with the odd exception), written by omnibibulous spirits lovers. All products reviewed are purchased by us, unless expressly specified. We don't do ads, paid-for-content, or sponsorships. We prefer to taste in flights, to add water, and to taste blind where possible, but tasting conditions are always specified.
Our specialities eau de vie, palinka, grappa, rakia, slivovitz, schnaps, marc, orujo, chacha, damassine, aging in inert vessels, ...
To keep the palate sharp rhum agricole, pisco, clairin, cachaça, mezcal, baijiu, ...
Not our bag infusions, added sugar, an excess of wood, ...
Scoring
We use the below ten-point scale* on which 5 is average (in a good way). We ocassionally augment a score with + or −, which is used to make a fine grained distinction amongst different spirits tasted in the same flight. We score with price in mind: better value might clinch a +, or nudge a fence-sitter up a point, and similarly for excessive prices. We comment where this is so. We indicate an approximate conversion to the 100 point scale below.
- 1 – Disgusting So bad I poured it out (0-50)
- 2 – Poor Wouldn’t consume by choice (50-70)
- 3 – Bad Multiple flaws (70-80)
- 4 – Sub-par Not bad, but many things I’d rather have (80-82)
- 5 – Average In a good way (82-84)
- 6 – Rather Good A cut above (84-86)
- 7 – Great Well above average (86-88)
- 8 – Excellent Really quite exceptional (88-90)
- 9 – Incredible An all-time favourite (90-95)
- 10 – Perfect A tear was shed (95-100)
*a slightly modified version of the t8ke scale