I didn't see an actual review for this so I'm starting this thread for it.
There's a supermarket nearby that carries mead in small quantities, but always tries to have one or two bottles of imported mead. Last weekend they had two different varieties of Iqhilika mead; the Dry and the Herbal. I picked up only the Dry because I was already picking up a bottle of mead from Austria and at $23+ a bottle I needed to restrain myself.
Anyway...
Allow me to preface this with the warning that I am drinking this at room temperature (currently 68.3 °F) and the bottle recommends serving chilled.
Iqhilika is a product of South Africa (Iqhilika is the Xhosa word for "mead") and this particular mead is 12% abv.
Visual: The mead is a lovely clear gold. It's really almost a perfect honey color. Not too light and without dipping into the brown tones that sometimes happen (lovely as they are).
Nose: The nose is tricky for me on this one. It's slightly vegetal, yet also a bit reminiscent of sweet licorice. And there's a faint mustiness. Dwelling on the aroma (with my nose firmly in glass) I'm struck with memories of delicious blue cheeses. And that sounds bad, but it's not at all unpleasant... like I said, "tricky".
Taste/Mouthfeel: The mead has a bit of thickness to it. It's not a syrup by any means, but it definitely feels like it's slow moving and it has a nice coating sensation when it first passes the lips. The flavor is not what I normally think of as dry. It's actually comes across as quite a bit sweeter at the front of the palate than most commercial meads I've had, but not in a cloying, sugary sense. The flavor is more along the lines of a dried fruit... like a raisin... It also has a hint of something almost like straw and leather... then a lingering impression of that blue cheese mustiness at the finish. And, while the initial perception was sweet, the finish definitely feels dry; the back of my mouth feels a bit like all the moisture was just pulled down into my stomach with the mead, leaving me parched for another sip.
Packaging: The bottle is clear glass showing off that lovely golden liquid, with a tasteful label in black and gold, and the neck is dipped in wax that looks like a light beeswax, but has none of the delicious aromas that are often given off by beeswax. That may say something about the local flora contributing to the honey and wax... I'm not sure. There is also a small label card tied to the neck with a small strand of beads dangling from it. I'm not sure it really serves a purpose outside of drawing the eye. The shape of the bottle, though the standard 750 ml, is not exactly a standard shape. It is very similar to a Bordeaux bottle, but has a bit of flare at the bottom and the neck is narrow like one might see on desert wines. I really only bring this up because the bottle seemed to pour strangely. It didn't make a mess, but it was definitely not a smooth pour.
Overall: I liked this even if my descriptors were a bit odd. I don't know how much I could drink at any one time because of the sweetness at the start of each sip (I'm more of a dry type), but I would definitely recommend it to others who are more open to, or desiring of, that experience.
There's a supermarket nearby that carries mead in small quantities, but always tries to have one or two bottles of imported mead. Last weekend they had two different varieties of Iqhilika mead; the Dry and the Herbal. I picked up only the Dry because I was already picking up a bottle of mead from Austria and at $23+ a bottle I needed to restrain myself.
Anyway...
Allow me to preface this with the warning that I am drinking this at room temperature (currently 68.3 °F) and the bottle recommends serving chilled.
Iqhilika is a product of South Africa (Iqhilika is the Xhosa word for "mead") and this particular mead is 12% abv.
Visual: The mead is a lovely clear gold. It's really almost a perfect honey color. Not too light and without dipping into the brown tones that sometimes happen (lovely as they are).
Nose: The nose is tricky for me on this one. It's slightly vegetal, yet also a bit reminiscent of sweet licorice. And there's a faint mustiness. Dwelling on the aroma (with my nose firmly in glass) I'm struck with memories of delicious blue cheeses. And that sounds bad, but it's not at all unpleasant... like I said, "tricky".
Taste/Mouthfeel: The mead has a bit of thickness to it. It's not a syrup by any means, but it definitely feels like it's slow moving and it has a nice coating sensation when it first passes the lips. The flavor is not what I normally think of as dry. It's actually comes across as quite a bit sweeter at the front of the palate than most commercial meads I've had, but not in a cloying, sugary sense. The flavor is more along the lines of a dried fruit... like a raisin... It also has a hint of something almost like straw and leather... then a lingering impression of that blue cheese mustiness at the finish. And, while the initial perception was sweet, the finish definitely feels dry; the back of my mouth feels a bit like all the moisture was just pulled down into my stomach with the mead, leaving me parched for another sip.
Packaging: The bottle is clear glass showing off that lovely golden liquid, with a tasteful label in black and gold, and the neck is dipped in wax that looks like a light beeswax, but has none of the delicious aromas that are often given off by beeswax. That may say something about the local flora contributing to the honey and wax... I'm not sure. There is also a small label card tied to the neck with a small strand of beads dangling from it. I'm not sure it really serves a purpose outside of drawing the eye. The shape of the bottle, though the standard 750 ml, is not exactly a standard shape. It is very similar to a Bordeaux bottle, but has a bit of flare at the bottom and the neck is narrow like one might see on desert wines. I really only bring this up because the bottle seemed to pour strangely. It didn't make a mess, but it was definitely not a smooth pour.
Overall: I liked this even if my descriptors were a bit odd. I don't know how much I could drink at any one time because of the sweetness at the start of each sip (I'm more of a dry type), but I would definitely recommend it to others who are more open to, or desiring of, that experience.
