Empirical Ayuuk

A Spirit with all the fruity smokiness of Pasilla Mixe chili peppers and just a touch of that chili heat.

Lars Williams & Mark Emil Hermansen are an interesting pair. These guys from Copenhagen, Denmark, are all about capturing precious memories and experiences. As we all know, smell & taste are powerful in that regard. Founded in 2017, Empirical aims to take advantage of that with their unique (and sometimes wacky!) Spirits that are meant to conjure the best of times. They go about it with custom-built machinery as well as unusual fermentation and distillation techniques. And plenty of that good old blood & sweat.

The Empirical guys visited the Sierra Norte mountains in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2019. The endemic ― and generally quite rare ― chili peppers called Pasilla Mixe immediately caught their attention with its super interesting and complex aroma and taste. Smoky, earthy, and fruity, they turned out to be just what Williams was looking for in a distillation project. Named after the Mixe people (Ayuuk in their native tongue), the peppers get macerated in their kōji-based Helena, a double fermented clear Spirit. Afterwards, the blend gets a period of rest in Sherry casks before being bottled at 86 proof.