• Category: arak
• Alcohol: 53%
• Origin: Lebanon
• Manufacturer: Tarek Youssef Ghantous et frères
• Bought at: Maroush Deli, London, UK

Many people get really drunk from arak; in the case of bad arak the hangover is awful; in case of good arak there is no hangover. Of course this law does not apply for everybody in every situation. On an empty stomach even the best arak would get you totally wasted. However, if you do drink a lot of arak, yet do not get a hangover, then you can rightfully draw the conclusion that the arak was of high quality. This arak indeed is of high quality, and this is an established fact…
Arak al Karram comes from Zahle, Lebanon.

External link: Arak al Karram official site

• Category: aniseed liqueur
• Alcohol: 36,4%
• Origin: Morocco
• Manufacturer: Les Economats du Maghreb
• Bought at: Supermarket, Morocco (thanks Eert’s father!)

Taounate apparently refers to a locality in the north of Morocco, close to Fes. This Moroccan liqueur (sweetened liquor) fortunately is not very sweet. Instead it has a strong aniseed aroma (it smells like arak), but the combination with the sugar makes it taste more like licorice than like anise. It is not too bad, but the aftertaste slightly has an industrial flavor to it, albeit by far not as dominant as in Tamrirt. It is unclear what the spirit is made of, but the palm trees on the cover might indicate that it is made of dates, similar to the Egyptian arak Meliniotis (qv). The taste also resembles that of arak Meliniotis. The rather cheap (plastic!) bottle is interesting as well: it features a familiar topos (palm trees) in addition to a rather unexpected hand of Fatima (symbol against the evil eye) on the bottleneck. However, the khamsa (as it is more correctly referred to) serves the same purpose in Judaism, and in this case this relation seems to be more likely. 6,5/10.

External link: Map (Arabic), Map (French) of the region
External link: Wikipedia: Khamsa

• Category: fig brandy (flavored with aniseed)
• Alcohol: 41%
• Origin: Morocco
• Manufacturer: Chai Andrieux
• Bought at: Supermarket Marrakesh, Morocco (thanks Renée!)

This bottle of mahia is interesting for the accumulation of languages on the label: french, english, berber, hebrew, and only only marginally arabic. The hebrew reminds of the (once sizeable but now rather small) Jewish population of Morocco. This population traditionally were (and are) the manufacturers of spirits such as these. The Hebrew simply says the name “tamrirt”. I have not been able to find out what the Berber word “Tamrirt” actually; Google vaguely tells about a valley in Algeria, but more information is appreciated. The smell is similar to that of the French mahia Meknesiah (rather aniseed). However after tasting it becomes clear that the Mahia Meknesiah is of a completely different quality. Tamrirt is not The best of spiritueux as the label argues; instead it is intensely bitter and chemical. The question is whether there is any way of concealing the taste in order to make it consumable. However I dare not to try. It is probably even worse than the Finlandia Vodka of Cairo, which results in the lowest rating until now 1,5/10.

• Category: arak (on the basis of grapes)
• Alcohol: 51,5%
• Origin: Syria
• Manufacturer: Syrian Arab Company for Grape Processing
• Bought at: Harb Gmbh, Berlin, Germany

Reputedly Syrian arak is better than other araks, because of the quality of the aniseed, but this is usually articulated by (presumably slightly biased) Syrians. However it surely belongs to the better brands of arak. It has a stronger-than-usual aniseed fragrance to it, and there is no artificial sweetening. Unfortunately it is hard to come by. 8/10.

• Category: arak (on the basis of grapes)
• Alcohol: 50%
• Origin: Jordan
• Manufacturer: Eagle Distilleries Co.
• Bought in: Jordan (thanks Lennart!)

This “triply distilled” product of Jordan comes in a nice bottle with a clever pouring enhancement. It makes measuring a lot easier. Just as the Lebanese arak Touma, the manufacturer also uses the classification “King of Arak”. The taste is good, but a little flat; not as complex as the good Lebanese brands. However the quality is very good, and it certainly does not give you a hang-over. 8,5/10.

External link: Eagle Distilleries official site

• Category: arak (on the basis of grapes)
• Alcohol: 53%
• Origin: Lebanon
• Manufacturer: Massaya &Co.
• Bought at: Le Vieux Télégraphe, Bédarrides, France (thanks Bob!)

Arak Massaya is one of the most prestigious brands of arak available, and the bottles are beautiful. The photo shows two bottles, one of the “anniversary edition” and one regular. Definitely recommendable if you have the chance to try it. The flavour reminds of herbs and licorice, and it is not sweet. Arak massaya matures six to twelve months in clay jars, which apparently gives off the licorice-like taste. 8/10.

External link: Massaya official site

• Category: arak (on the basis of grapes)
• Alcohol: 45%
• Origin: Iraq
• Manufacturer: unknown
• Bought at: Baghdad, Iraq (thanks Bob!)

This bottle was bought in Baghdad probably a long time ago (possibly even in the eighties). It is made of fermented grape pulp, just as Lebanese and Syrian arak, but unlike many other Iraqi brands of arak which are based on fermented dates. Abu Nuwas was a medieval Arabic poet renowned for his poetry involving wine and homo-eroticism. He also figures on the label, enjoying music and a glass of (presumably) arak. For more information on Abu Nuwas, see his Wikipedia page. The drink itself is not very good; it results in quite bad hangovers. 5/10.

External link: Wikipedia: Abu Nuwas

• Category: arak (on the basis of grapes)
• Alcohol: 53%
• Origin: Lebanon
• Manufacturer: Chateau Musar
• Bought at: Ton Overmars, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Chateau Musar is one of the best known Lebanese wineries, and they also make a high quality arak. The smell is outspoken aniseed, and rather spicy, because the sweet hints that usually accompany the smell of aniseed are absent. It also smells quite alcoholic, maybe because of the same reason. The taste is also spicier and less sweet, and more complex. These characteristics might well be related to the fact that it is distilled four times, whereas three times is more usual. But it could also be related to the fact that it has aged for a year in terracotta jars. In either case this extra attention is a good investment. According to the description of Chateau Musar it can also be drunk pure. Even though it is less harsh than other araks, I still find it too strong to drink it pure. In any case it gets the highest rating so far: 8.5/10.

External link: Chateau Musar official site