Acerum Strikes Back

From time to time, a sequel is even better than the original in the world of film. The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part 2 and Evil Dead 2 told a more nuanced story than the first installment. In the world of spirits, we can’t go back and stream the originals. So, we romanticize that spirits such as the green-label J.P. Wiser’s 18 year old, Seagram’s Crown Royal and yellow-label Lot No. 40 outshone today’s versions. However, when tasted head-to-head, that’s not always the case. In the hands of skilled blenders, some of these spirits are even better than ever.

So it is with Acerum – a spirit made by fermenting and distilling Quebec maple syrup or sap. In the last year or two, when Quebec’s first Acerums landed on store shelves, they entertained our palate with something novel and exciting. This year though, as the sequels to these first bottlings begin to arrive, we discover that Acerum has a much bigger story to tell. For example, Jean François Cloutier and Joël Pelletier of Distillerie du St. Laurent in Rimouski Quebec, return to the dark side for their second Acerum release. 

At the beginning of the maple syrup season, the syrup is clear with delicate sweet flavours. As the season advances, the syrup becomes darker and more robust. Then the trees begin to bud and the harvest draws to an end as bitter chocolate-like notes that are considered a flaw move in. This so-called “buddy syrup” is sold in bulk to be used as a maple flavouring for baked goods and processed foods.

Rimouski calls the Bas-Saint-Laurent/Gaspésie region home. Alone, this region produced 35.2 million pounds of maple syrup in 2019, the second-highest production in the province. As a result, the volume of buddy syrup exceeded demand and over 25,000 steel drums of this syrup went into storage across Quebec. This trend continued in 2020. But Cloutier and Pelletier had done their homework and after trying every combination under the spring sun, they decided that nature had designed this syrup to be distilled. “It has a very strong flavour and just like rum, the best is made with a very flavourful raw material. Now we use their product and they have a buyer for it,” explains Pelletier. “It’s a win-win.”

Maple sap becomes maple syrup when it’s boiled down to 66 Brix degrees, or 66% sugar. After diluting this syrup with water to 30 - 35% sugar, the team at St. Laurent then ferments it with a rum yeast. “We wanted to approach it like a rum and we found rum yeast produced good congeners and fermented really fast to a high alcohol yield,” says Pelletier. After about 60 hours of fermentation, they stored the “maple beer” in a tank for a few days before distilling. At this stage, it smelled more of apples and pears than maple syrup. They then double distilled the maple beer to 70% alcohol in a 2,000-litre pot still before ageing it in oak barrels. 

St. Laurent’s Acerum story is rooted in a Canadian tradition – blending. The first release was a blend of seven barrels: two made from new oak and five ex-bourbon barrels. They tweaked this recipe for their second release by blending Acerum aged in four ex-bourbon barrels, three medium-toasted American oak barrels, and one char #1 new American oak barrel. 

“Blending spirit from various types of barrels brings a lovely complexity to the spirit,” explains Pelletier. “Ex-bourbon casks let the native distillate speak: apples, pears and coconut bark, without adding too much woodiness. Medium toasted and charred new oak barrels bring back the caramel and butterscotch aromas expected in a maple syrup distillate.” It’s blending that builds on the spirit’s natural, elegant amber rum and fruit eau-de-vie flavours. Gone are the maple sugars, replaced by a luxurious maple essence and mineral notes that branches through the lush spirit with caramel, vanilla, light oak tannins and complex notes of ripe apple and pear. 

“The challenge is to keep a balance between the fruitiness of the native distillate and the maple syrup and butterscotch notes derived from the new oak barrels. As the months go by, we continue to learn how the Acerum is ageing and how we can improve future blends. It's the fun part of our job, really,” says Pelletier.

Distillerie du St. Laurent’s Acerum, second edition, is bottled at 40% and available at the distillery or select SAQ stores in Quebec. (750ml $69.25)