Hey! There’s a New Whiskey Flavored with Beaver Anus! Will You Try It?
A distillery in New Hampshire just made a new whiskey that's flavored with beaver anus secretions...those secretions, believe it or not, are a pretty common food additive because they're a cheap substitute for vanilla, strawberry and raspberry flavors.
Tamworth Distilling says their new Eau De Musc ("Water of Musk") is flavored by a beaver's castor glands. The gland secretion --called castoreum-- "exhibits bright and fruit qualities and rich leathery notes along with creamy vanilla aroma and acts to fortify the whiskey flavors"
Castoreum is the oil that beavers have in little sacs by their tails that they use to mark their territory.
Castoreum is actually a pretty common food additive and the FDA lets companies just list it in ingredients as "natural flavoring" and not "beaver anal secretions." So you've probably eaten it without realizing it.
Hey, don't worry, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the beaver gland secretions are "generally recognized as safe"
The drink also includes raspberries, Canadian snakeroot, fir needles, birch bark and maple syrup.
I'll bet it's freaking delicious. Seriously. But there's still no way I'm ever going to try it.