Unicum is a potent herbal liqueur that exists somewhere between tradition and a dare. As Hungary’s “national drink,” Rick and I decided it deserved a small at-home taste test. We’d picked up a few bottles along the way and decided our time was best spent ranking them.
We only had three of the four main varieties, so the missing one was placed last. The remaining three flavors are “stink,” “stank,” and “stunk.” Apologies to Dr. Seuss.
We started with the original. The liquid, darker than expected, carried a smell somewhere in the neighborhood of tar and licorice, with something faintly floral trying to make its case in the background. The taste followed through with strong notes of roots, cloves, bitterness, and a bit of surprise. Not subtle, but not entirely unpleasant either. We found ourselves going back to it.
Next was Unicum Szilva, the plum version. If you’ve ever wondered if black could get any blacker, the answer is a resounding “yes.” It took the same general profile and smoothed it out, as if the original had been sent to a court-ordered anger management class. This one pulled the bitterness back just enough to let something softer come through. Still unmistakably Unicum, but less confrontational. The plums didn’t so much announce themselves as quietly mediate the whole situation.
Then came Unicum Riserva, which arrives in a bottle that has something to prove. It’s lighter in color and noticeably brighter, with citrus leading the way. Riserva was like Unicum's cousin who spent a semester abroad and came back a self-professed sophisticate, “Well, when I lived in the south of France….” The rough edges are still there, just filed down a bit. It feels like someone spent some time figuring out how to make Unicum more approachable without entirely losing the point.
Truth be told, we loved all three and found it hard to rank them. We’d been told by various opinionated Hungarians that Unicum could be served at room temperature or chilled, though, so we decided to run through the whole thing again with colder pours. These Unicum versions range from 60 to 80 proof, which is enough to make a second round feel like a deeply questionable decision.
Ultimately, our opinions didn’t exactly converge, but they didn’t drift too far apart either. Six shots each in a half hour may have slightly impaired our judgment, but we did end up with a solid ranking—original first, then Riserva, then Szilva. But the outcome felt less important than the process of getting there. And we’d drink any of them again.
Next time, maybe pálinka. With smaller pours.
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