Ksarak Arak

Rating: 12/23 After more than six months of contemplating Ouzo Barbayanni on and off, I discovered this bottle of arak. Since I was struggling to rate Barbayanni without finishing my review, I decided to purchase this to have another anise spirit for comparison. Hopefully, I haven't just compounded my problem. NOSE: It shares Barbayanni's anise intensity but has an added vegetal aroma. I'm having trouble pinpointing the specific scents (perhaps some squash and carrots?), but it's somewhat like a bit of unaged rhum agricole mixed with Barbayanni. A hint of melon and a tiny touch of dry, earthy root. Barbayanni has a mustiness that this possesses to a much lesser degree. Barbayanni's mustiness reminds me of Sipsmith London Dry Gin's aroma, but less potent and without any fishiness. PALATE: At full strength, it's hot with significant numbing anise. I detected a little other flavor initially, but it was quickly overwhelmed. Barbayanni isn't as potent in alcohol presence or numbing effect, which is understandable given its 53% ABV compared to 43%. After a few sips and the numbing sensation takes over, I can begin to discern some of that vegetal character, with squash being the primary note. I get very faint hints of melon at times. That mustiness also comes through, but it's so subtle it's barely perceptible. FINISH: Bitter numbness. What more could you ask for? CONCLUSION This comes across as more natural and bold, akin to an anise liqueur based on rhum agricole, while Barbayanni has a more refined, almost staid maturity. Neat, I prefer Barbayanni. Its mustiness is more balanced with a pleasant maturity. It still tastes strongly of anise and is very numbing. This has a much stronger alcohol bite, and the minimal additional flavor doesn't really enhance its complexity and is also out of balance. I believe its rating neat would be between 10 and 13. With water, I do start to perceive that slightly sweet vegetal flavor and the bitter root. In this context, Barbayanni's mustiness and sweetness tend to obscure the drink's character, whereas diluting this improves it. And now I'm in the dreaded situation of needing to rate both of these. Ultimately, I think both perform well as anise liqueurs when mixed with water (which is expected). I'm still not a big fan of this category, so that's a bit of an issue. This likely sets a fairly low ceiling on the scores I can assign, but it still leaves a fairly wide range. Can I just say "thumbs up if you like anise liqueur" and be done with it? Ksaarak does produce a prettier louche, however. When extremely diluted, this actually becomes drier and more watery, while Barbayanni retains its sweet, musty, balanced profile. Based on all these different tastings, I must conclude that Barbayanni is the superior drink. I've sampled many high-proof spirits, often much higher than Ksarak, but I found Ksarak at every stage was hampered by its burn and/or lack of balance and complexity. Barbayanni had its flaws, but it generally worked out better. There might be an ideal way to enjoy Ksarak, but it will likely require considerable effort on my part to discover it. With some added water, this seems to be a 12. I could see it being slightly higher or down to an 11, but that's roughly the range. It never feels like a truly solid sipper, especially considering the numbing effect. Overall, it's a 12.