Nudist is a small alcohol producer founded in 2015 in Tallinn. They produce sparkling wine, ciders and other alcohol and non-alcohol beverages. Grapes are not used to make the wines, but the company makes them from various berries, plants and herbs. Rhubarb and gooseberry wines have proven to be the most popular. Especially rhubarb sparkling wine, with which the company started a boom in Estonia, where new producers were born across the country over the years.

Eau de Vie is made from the company’s most produced and most famous rhubarb sparkling wine. The wine is distilled at Atla Distillery in central Estonia. After distillation, the distillate has been matured with fresh rhubarb for some time. No sugar, dyes or other additives have been added to the drink. Rhubarb Eau-de-Vie is bottled in 35cl bottles, which costs in stores about € 20.

The aroma is like concentrated rhubarb wine. The taste is pleasantly sweet-sour, rhubarb and wine -like. The aftertaste is dry and has a slight acidity of rhubarb. The taste has a hint of copper pot aroma, which is typical of grappa. The drink is very original and different, and quite challenging. The sour taste is not very often encountered in alcohol. The really good thing about this is that the taste hasn’t softened and sweetened with sugar, like most of the bigger companies would have done for sure. The taste of fresh rhubarb has become a bit more during the short maturation, but the rhubarb aroma is not so strong. It reminds more dry and sour sparkling wine.

When sipping it neat, the taste may be a little too demanding and the manufacturer also recommends drinking it with ice or extended with tonic water. In any case, a product worth trying. It’s great and appreciated that a small company has the courage to make drinks like this.

85/100