It was only a matter of time before molecular gastronomy made its way from the kitchen into the distillery. Lars Williams was the head of research and development at Noma, Rene Redzepi’s highly acclaimed and notably innovative Copenhagen restaurant. Mark Emil Hermansen was concept manager. In 2017, the two launched Empirical Spirits and started distilling, seeking to coax out and capture aromatically precise flavors in spirits from a chef’s perspective.

The resulting products resemble no other spirit on the market. Helena, for example, their basic distillate, bottled at 40% alcohol, tastes like a sake-vodka hybrid — clean, floral, with clear notes of koji, the same fungus that’s used in the production of sake, miso and shoyu. In their most notoriously named spirit, F*** Trump and His Stupid F***ing Wall, distilled with habanero vinegar, the capsaicin (which makes chiles spicy) disperses, leaving a lovely flowery pepper flavor, and comes in at only 27%. As my tasting partner noted, “Everyone always tells you how delicious habaneros are, but they’re too darn hot to taste them!” Williams and Hermansen reveal the bare flavors within.

“To create their unique products, Williams and Hermansen turned traditional distillation on its head, using barley instead of more traditional grains, and koji to ferment. First, the barley is steamed and inoculated with the koji. Pilsner malt and Belgian saison yeasts are added and the slow fermentation begins. Each batch is fermented twice for depth of flavor. Distillation takes place in vacuum stills, designed and built by Empirical, keeping the temperature low (41-86 degrees F) and flavor retention at a maximum.

So, now that these products are available in the U.S., how does one best experience such a novel (and pricy at $70-$90) beverage? Says Audi, “This is booze that does not tell you what to do with it. When you taste it, you are not weighed down by the other hundred billion times you’ve tasted mezcal, for example,” or sipped a gin martini.

Lisa Futterman is a freelance writer.