A soft, mildly carrot Eau de Vie that is surprising from the first sip.

High in the Alps, just South of the Danube, small farms cluster against each other like panels of green stained glass around the smaller-than-small hamlet of Axberg, Austria. Among other things, many of those little family farms grow grains, herbs, fruits, and vegetables. And that’s good, because in the little town of Axberg, Reisetbauer Quality Brands uses small, 300-liter pot stills to transform those local, high quality, natural ingredients into a wide variety of spirits famous all over Europe.

Since Reisetbauer is based in Austria, their products have been called Schnapps for years — un-aged fruit Brandies. But the difference between Schnapps and Eau de Vie is simply a matter of international borders, and that is how the products are marketed across most of Europe. Reisetbauer Carrot Brandy is perhaps the most famous — and most unique — of the Eau de Vie spirits to come from the Reisetbauer facility. Since carrots are far less sweet than grapes, it takes nearly fifty pounds of fresh carrots to make enough juice for one half-liter bottle of Reisetbauer Carrot.