Mystery Oogave #5: Esteban's Root Beer

Next up is Esteban's Root Beer. When reviewing the previous Oogave flavor (Esteban's Cola), I noted that having Esteban's name on the bottle made me feel guilty. I think I've got it now, though, so I've decided that having his name on the bottle is kind of neat. Actually, I'm tempted to do the same for things I make; that might be relevant if I made anything worth quaffing.

Well, let's see if the root beer is worthy of the name of Esteban. Of course, it already bears his name (not to mention his Seal of Approval), but I suspect that he might be biased. Not like me.

YOU'RE %@##@$! RIGHT ABOUT THAT!

Yes, well. I think a quaffing is in order.

Where and when: sent September 2009 by Mike and Esteban at Oogave.
Color: Dark reddish-brown.
Scent: Strong, spicy. Pleasant. Very sweet, a little biting, root beerish (but the sharper kind).
Taste: Oooh, nice. Sweet/spicy root beer (with a hint of bitter) and a fairly strong citrus note. The agave smoothness is evident, although this has a bit more bite than the other Oogaves. This is also sweeter than most of the others, and stronger.
The aftertaste is more pleasant and less sharp than that of most sodas, and lingers quite a while.
Actually--and this is weird--it's fairly reminiscent of the Abbondio Chinotto. The initial spicy citrus is very similar, and the hint of bitter brings the real Weirdness of the Abbondio to mind. This one, though, is both more pleasant to begin with, and also lacks the "holy crud" factor which the bizarre coffee-cola wave brings to the Abbondio. This hints at the beginning of that wave, but never follows through, choosing instead to linger in the spicy/sweet/hint of bitter swirling mist of yumminess in which it began.
The Kibbitzer-in-Chief feels that this should be re-dubbed "Rooty-Tooty-Oddly-Fruity".
Very good. I think Esteban can be proud. I would be.

Quaff rating: 4.0. Quite nice, very good taste.
Cough rating: 0.5. The hint o'bitter is just a bit off-putting.