After winning two bottles on ebay (Special Reserve Mead, and Spiced Mead), last weekend I opened the Special Reserve Mead for some liquid enjoyment.
And it was very enjoyable indeed!
My assessment (personal taste, obviously):
It's an off-dry traditional, and has a nice, strong honey aroma, slightly floral with strong overtones of buckwheat honey.
It has a robust flavor profile that is dominated (but not overposered) by the buckwheat honey, with notes of carmel, vanilla, nut & oak. Complex and delicious! The buckwheat honey dominates the mouth/nose taste, but again, does not overpower the other flavors. As a semi-dry mead, there is a slight astringency on the finish.
Oh yeah, this is a potent mead with a high alcohol content, but is not "biting", owing I suspect to the oak aging.
The flavor lingers on the palette for quite a while, leading to a desire for another glass!
Eric
And it was very enjoyable indeed!
My assessment (personal taste, obviously):
It's an off-dry traditional, and has a nice, strong honey aroma, slightly floral with strong overtones of buckwheat honey.
It has a robust flavor profile that is dominated (but not overposered) by the buckwheat honey, with notes of carmel, vanilla, nut & oak. Complex and delicious! The buckwheat honey dominates the mouth/nose taste, but again, does not overpower the other flavors. As a semi-dry mead, there is a slight astringency on the finish.
Oh yeah, this is a potent mead with a high alcohol content, but is not "biting", owing I suspect to the oak aging.
The flavor lingers on the palette for quite a while, leading to a desire for another glass!
Eric
